A Social View of Socotra Island: People, Culture, Heritage [1st ed. 2023] 9819943574, 9789819943579

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Nataša Slak Valek Ahmad Abdelmoniem Zedan   Editors

A Social View of Socotra Island People, Culture, Heritage

A Social View of Socotra Island

Nataša Slak Valek · Ahmad Abdelmoniem Zedan Editors

A Social View of Socotra Island People, Culture, Heritage

Editors Nataša Slak Valek College of Business Zayed University Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Ahmad Abdelmoniem Zedan Socotra Archipelago University Hadibo, Socotra Island, Yemen

ISBN 978-981-99-4357-9 ISBN 978-981-99-4358-6 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4358-6 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore

List of Reviewers

Alia Yunis, New York University Abu Dhabi, UAE Anne Meneley, Trent University, Canada Christina Koutra, Abu Dhabi University, UAE Lacey Sloan, Auburn University, Alabama, USA Miha Lesjak, University of Primorska, Slovenia Paolo Mura, Zayed University Abu Dhabi, UAE Rok Lasan, The Cultural Sanctuaries Foundation Rokhshad Tavakoli, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman Zoe Hurley, Zayed University Dubai, UAE

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Contents

Intersectional Feminist Autoethnographic Snaphots of Socotra, Yemen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Zoe Hurley and Widad Abdulmalik Abdu Mohammed Sustainable Environmental Practices of Socotra People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lacey M. Sloan and Amal Alawi Omar Bin Alawi

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Tastes of Socotra in New Media: What do we know About Socotri from Looking at Their (Digital) Plate? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ˇ Piper Danica Cigoja

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Past, Present, and the Future of the Maritime Socotra: Sustainable Fishing Tourism Perspectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Federica Letizia Cavallo and Giovanna Di Matteo

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Factors Beyond Preserving the Socotri Intangible Heritage: A Qualitative Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wagdi Rashad Ali Bin-Hady

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Language as Symbolic Power in the Linguistic and Semiotic Landscape of Socotra Island . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Sarah Hopkyns and Anwar A. H. Al-Athwary Rediscover Socotra: The Island on the Edge of the Ecumene . . . . . . . . . . . 135 Annalisa D’Ascenzo Palm Cultivation in Socotra: An Essential Part of Daily Life and Cultural Heritage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Ahmad Abdelmoniem Zedan and Ahmed Saeed Suliman Abdullah

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Contents

Potential for Tourism in Emerging Destinations: Case of Socotra Island . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 Petr Šauer, Barbora Veselá, and Thao Duyen Nguyenová Conclusion: What We Found and What Is the Way Forward? . . . . . . . . . 201 Nataša Slak Valek

Intersectional Feminist Autoethnographic Snaphots of Socotra, Yemen Zoe Hurley and Widad Abdulmalik Abdu Mohammed

1 Introduction The island of Socotra in Yemen, although a safe-haven for a small number of Yemeni families fleeing the conflicts of the mainland, continues to be a challenging context for women and girls due to an entrenched culture of misogyny. Yemen’s civil war began in 2014 when Houthi insurgents took control of the capital city Sanaa (cfr.org, 2022). But even in peacetime, Yemen is considered as one of the most difficult places on earth to be female. It has ranked last in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap index for 13 consecutive years (UN Women, 2022). Females have suffered disproportionately due to engrained gender-inequality. However, the intersectional impacts of misogyny in Socotra can differ according to a woman’s ethnicity, class, sexuality, faith and level of education (Crenshaw, 1989). In this chapter, we ask how might intersectional feminist autoethnographic snapshots (IFAS) offer insights into Socotrian women’s lives? To address this question, we develop IFAS theorising of Socotra’s postcolonial, gendered cartography. First, we conduct a review of literature concerning women from the Middle East and North African (MENA) region. Second, we discuss the rationale of the novel IFAS framework. Third, as two women academics who were located at a university in Socotra, we develop autoethnographic snapshots rooted in our own positionality. As authors of the study, Widad is a Yemeni woman academic who currently lives in Socotra and works at the Socotra Archipelago Technical Institute in Hadiboh. Zoe is a transnational woman academic based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and visiting scholar at the university in Hadiboh in 2022. Z. Hurley (B) Zayed University, Dubai, United Arab Emirates e-mail: [email protected] W. A. A. Mohammed Socotra Archipelago Technical Institute, Socotra, Yemen

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 N. Slak Valek and A. A. Zedan (eds.), A Social View of Socotra Island, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4358-6_1

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The multidirectional orientations of the IFAS framework have been conceived to develop evidence-based perspectives of Socotrian women’s structural, cultural and intersectional political experiences.

2 Literature Review To obtain an overview of the literature, key publications were selected using searches via digital databases across a range of journals and publications for a corpus of relevant literature. Recent articles in Scopus journals were consulted as well as interdisciplinary scholarly journals. The domains reviewed were: (1) Middle Eastern feminism(s) and threshold concepts of intersectionality; (2) Socotrian context (3) Feminist autoethnography. Analysis of these domains was underpinned by the concerns of the novel IFAS theoretical framework.

2.1 Middle Eastern Feminism(s) Western perceptions of Arab Muslim women constitute deep-seated anxieties and fantasies surrounding MENA cultures’ alterity. Centuries of Orientalism have contributed racist, reductive and romantised stereotypes about MENA’s cartographies (Ballaster, 2005; Elyas et al., 2022). Braidotti (2013) suggests that radical cartographies might account for the political mapping of social actors in terms of both space (geo-political or ecological dimension) and time (historical and genealogical dimensions). From the eighteenth century onwards, British first-wave feminism appropriated Arab Muslim women’s lives as a trope to advocate the cause for western women’s suffrage (Ballaster, 2005). English feminist Wollstonecraft (1792), for instance, who argued the case for women’s social, political, educational and economic rights, did so by locating Arab-Muslim women’s lack of social status as an index of dichotomous eastern barbarism (Maoulidi, 2007 p.281). While the context of these debates are symptomatic of their time, Wollstonecraft polarises Islam, and leverages the plight of Muslim women, to strategically locate middle class English women’s political equality as an indicator of western civilisation and Christianity. The western colonial project has continued to culminate around the image of the Muslim woman who needs liberating from the uncivilized ‘other’ (Abu-Lughod, 2002). These narratives helped to justify violent imperialism as a project of western Enlightenment and moral reason while the object of unveiling the Muslim women’s body was considered a benchmark of success (Haq, 2022). However, the colonial imagination—concerning the Arab-Muslim woman—tends to conflate Arab nationality with Islam. Yet, the MENA region is a vast and diverse geographical region consisting of 22 nations with varying ethnicities; religions; languages and cultures (Hurley, 2021). Accordingly, there is an established body

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of MENA feminists who have pointed to the long traditions of Arab women’s struggles for gender rights. While Christianity is also embedded within patriarchy, the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), the prophet of Islam, are often seen by Muslims and non-Muslims alike to have been a champion of women’s rights in conservative Arabia (Maoulidi, 2007). Moreover, MENA women’s resistance to patriarchy has a history that both pre-dates and continues with Islam (Al Fassi, 2007). Consequently, the feminism associated with western liberalism has evolved in terms that are often alien to Arab and Muslim women’s experiences and agendas (Hurley, 2021). Simultaneously, western feminists’ discussions of women’s issues in MENA tend to be monochromatic and overlook the diversity, varying lifestyles and conditions (Odine, 2022). Moreover, as indicated, agendas of western feminism, which seek to unveil and secularise, are recolonising mechanisms (Odine, 2022). MENA feminist scholars therefore argue that we must go beyond reifying Muslim and Arab women in terms of a timeless Islam, ontological essentialism and perceptions of the Islamic religion as monolithic, non-evolving, ahistorical and oppressive. A further issue is the “writing out” of Middle Eastern women’s viewpoints, as well as ethnocentric misunderstandings of their perceived silences and invisibilities, especially when they cannot be located within the scopic regimes of colonial discourse (Hurley, 2021; Hurley & Al-Ali, 2021). Conversely, there is a burgeoning body of literature indicating that, although some Muslim women are veiled, modest fashions can bring about veiled affordances (Baulch & Pramiyanti, 2018; Hurley, 2021). In a similar vein, while feminist social justice movements have been strictly censored in the MENA region, they can also occur below the radar. The invisibilities and silences of Muslim women can also be dialogic utterances although misunderstood from Eurocentric-secular perspectives (Hurley & Al-Ali, 2021). To go beyond western feminist universalism and colonial narratives, we can refer to the established body of intersectional feminist scholarship from MENA, which suggests that we need to view all women’s lives as economically, politically, and culturally structured and amenable to adaptation, resistance, and transformation (Moore, 2008). This is crucial considering western colonial narratives concerning Muslim women have involved an emphasis on gendered oppression at the cost of intersectional indices of women’s identities such as class, ethnicity, faith, physical ability and sexuality (Hurley, 2021). Intersectionality is the term originally coined by the legal scholar Kimberle Crenshaw (1989) referring to subjectivity as constituted by mutually reinforcing vectors of race, gender, class, and sexuality. Yet, intersectionality is not a catch all phrase and in this study the category of universal ‘woman’ is also contested since the analysis indicates that the experience of being a ‘woman’ is always constituted by subjects with vastly different interests (Nash, 2008; Salem, 2016). Developing a nuanced definition of intersectionality is thus crucial to appreciate how the circulation of women’s situated identities can intersect, coalesce and contradict universal conceptions of political, social and cultural practices (Hurley, 2020, 2021). The challenge

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in the Socotrian context, therefore, is not simply the presentation or representation of Socotrian women’s experiences but an ethnographic sensitivity about how we might refine intersectional analysis in contextual terms. To counter Eurocentric narratives of Socotrian women’s lives, this chapter is informed by the burgeoning field of feminist scholarship from within MENA as well as the extensive work by diaspora feminists. Of relevance are the prolific works of feminist activist, academic, novelist, physician and psychiatrist El Saadawi (1977). She wrote numerous books on the subject of women in Islam, criticisms of patriarchy in the Middle East (and the west) and the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) prevalent in the Arab world. Diaspora Arab feminists like Eltahawy (2015) also rally against the enduring misogyny of MENA. The research of these contemporary intersectional feminists articulates that criticism of patriarchal discourses in Muslim contexts should not assume that patriarchy is singular. But, neither should it be supposed that MENA feminisms are homogenous. Muslim women are not a monolithic entity, irrespective of class; ethnicity; education, faith and education. In a similar vein, the economic and industrial development of emerging MENA economies also needs to involve a balance between the political and economic needs of its people in addition to the environmental protection of its natural environmental heritage. To illustrate further, we will move on to offer a broad historical narrative of Socotrian women’s contextual issues.

2.2 Socotrian Gendered Context, Historical Snapshots Home to frankincense, myrrh trees and rare birds, Socotra was declared a UNESCO heritage reserve in 2008 due to its startling biodiversity. Lying in the Indian Ocean, approximately 240 kms east of the Horn of Africa, 480 kms south of the Arabian Coast, near to Yemen, Somalia, Ethiopia, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, each of which have cultural influences on the peninsula. Socotra’s name is traced to the Sanskrit dvipa-sakhadara, “island abode of bliss” but it also has many other translations and associations (Salim, 2021). Socotra was under the rule of Mahra sultans of southeastern Yemen until this was interrupted by Portuguese occupation between 1507 and 1511. In 1834, the British tried and failed to purchase the island. In the 1880s the sultan accepted British protection for the entire sultanate but this came to an end when Yemeni authorities once again returned to reside over Socotra. In 1999, a small airport was built and in that year 140 travellers visited (Burdick, 2007). Flights were suspended in March 2015, due to Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen and resumed in late 2018. The UAE took over the airport in 2018 but returned control to Yemeni officials in the same year (Baser, 2020). By 2020, the annual figure of visitors to Socotra exceeded 3000. In 2022, these figures have remained constant due to the fact that there are only two flights arriving and leaving Socotra on a weekly or fortnightly basis, according to the season. Nevertheless,

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Fig. 1 Hadiboh’s tides of waste

despite this limited access, the island’s infrastructure is expanding, and Socotra currently has (intermittent) electricity, three gas stations, some flush toilets, four small hotels and an escalating litter problem (Fig. 1). The UAE replaced the Yemini internet and telecom networks in Socotra in 2020, as part of soft power efforts to influence culture and identity (Fenton-Harvey, 2020). But regardless of WIFI, Yemeni women are plagued by negative gender stereotypes and patriarchal attitudes, a discriminatory legal system, and economic inequality which compounds females’ limited access to food, water, sanitation and health care services (Amnesty International, 2021). The United Nations (UN) estimates that a substantial number of deaths in Yemen’s conflict, since 2015, are due to food and health service shortages. Over 24 million or 80% of Yemen’s population currently require humanitarian aid, including 13 million children (Swan, 2022). In particular, UNICEF say that the war has seen an increase in the number of women dying in childbirth, to an average of 12 a-day, while six newborns die every two hours due to the collapsed health system (Unicef.org, 2022). The conflict has forced an estimated 4.6 million Yeminis to flee and this is most challenging for Yemeni women who can face violence and intimidation at checkpoints. Hence, in this conflict, as in others, suffering is evidently occurring along profoundly gendered lines. Socotrian women, in contrast, are not fleeing the war on the mainland but their capabilities for earning an income; accessing education, healthcare, transportation or developing political agency are severely restricted by gender. Nathalie Peutz (2013), a woman academic who was based in Socotra and volunteered as a teacher at a Socotrian primary school while carrying out research, has helped to bring to light the lived experiences of Socotrian women. Peutz (2013) explains that because Yemen’s Socotra Archipelago has attracted aid for conservation and development programs, these projects have transformed the archipelago’s reputation as a relatively obscure and seasonally inaccessible enclave to a “globally” attractive World Heritage site.

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Simultaneously, these projects have been pivotal in widening the gender gap and inequalities between men and women in Socotra due, in part, to the steady supply of western tourists. At the same time, like other nations and locales throughout the Arab world, aspirations and discourses that underscore Socotra’s development projects culminate via Islamicist reformist discourses which are both modernizing and moralizing (Peutz, 2013). These discourses are fraught with tensions and infused by Yemeni political parties and coalitions (notably the ruling General People’s Congress, on the one hand, and the Yemeni Congregation for Reform, more commonly known as al-Is.l¯ah. [Reform], on the other) (Peutz, 2013). Simultaneously Socotra, as a postcolonial context, embeds ideologies and influences from outside the island and region. As well as being deployed as a strategic outpost of Arabian Gulf governments, the Socotrian peninsula is an object of profound fascination for western tourists eager to experience unfamiliar destinations. Tourism brochures, websites, popular press and western social media, fetishize Socotra as a fascinating, exotic and primitive location. For instance, Socotra has been described in the British broadsheet newspaper The Observer, as “the land that time forgot” and “time-capsule collection of plants and wildlife which are extinct elsewhere on the planet” (Carter, 2006). Carter suggests that many of the island’s inhabitants only speak “Socotri” a language unknown to the rest of the world with its roots in Sabea, an ancient city state on the southern Arabian mainland. He says that the Socotri language still “has no words for things that are not found on the island, so to describe a dog or an aeroplane, Socotrans have to borrow from Arabic.” However, Socotrian linguistic scholar Saeed Salim (2021) suggests that impressions of the island and its people, by the western media, academics and tourists, are often based on antiquated studies from previous centuries. Salim (2021, p.47) writes that they describe “the islands and people as they were thousands of years ago without taking note of events and changes, which passed more recently.” Conversely, the majority of young Socotrians speak Arabic and some English. Moreover, the Socotrian language has a complex grammar and syntax which qualify it as a sophisticated register beyond linguistic deficit. The Socotrian language also has lexical items which cannot easily be translated into English or Arabic. Salim (2021) explains that numerous misrepresentations of Socotrian culture have been fabricated by people who have limited knowledge of the island, who do not speak its language, or understand its cultural practices. Antiquated depictions of Socotra’s culture, language and indigenous people follow earlier iterations of Orientalism. The early postcolonial theories of Franz Fanon’s (1968)‘Wretched of the Earth’ and Edward Said’s (1978) ‘Orientalism’ described the west’s imagined cartography of the non-western world as exotic, pathological and feminine in order to locate it “schematically on a theatrical stage whose audience, managers and actors are for Europe, and only for Europe” (Said, 1978, pp. 71–72). In the case of tourist promotions by the western media, Socotra is frequently described in terms of its natural exceptionalism. For instance, it is called the “Jewel of Arabia” (McKernan & Towers, 2018). Alim (2021), from the British newspaper the Independent, calls it a “mythological island” since “37 per cent of Socotra’s plant species do not grow anywhere else in the world, including

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the legendary Dragon’s Blood Tree.” Alim also claims that “the warmth of its locals and both the diversity and proximity of its natural reserves make it exceptional.” However, Gulf-studies scholars, Kanna et al. (2020), argue that western conceptions of exceptional people, places and events in the Middle East are a further proliferation of Orientalism. But beyond the western imagination of Socotra’s exceptionalism, the fate of the island is playing out as a pivotal staging post of Saudi Arabia and the UAE. For the UAE, control of Socotra strengthens its commercial and military position in the Indian Ocean. For Saudi Arabia, control of Socotra would uphold its role in the Yemen conflict and inter-state leadership in the Gulf region (Ardemagni, 2018). As identity markers of the Orient, Arab women have also historically been an object of colonial narratives. They are a central trope of Orientalist fantasies, and the veil has been construed as an exotic, erotic and politically triggering item of clothing (Hurley, 2021). Consecutively, Socotrian women and girls are the markers of boundaries distinguishing Socotra from Yemen; Yemen from the rest of the Arab world; and the Arab world from the west (Peutz, 2013). Socotrian women are enmeshed within these cartographic imaginaries while the niqab (facial veil), which is worn by Socotrian women from puberty onwards, is an important symbol of gendered identity (Hurley, 2019a, b). To go beyond Orientalist conceptions of Socotrian women thus involves de-exceptionalising while not flattening the complexity of the everyday” (Kanna et al., 2020). De-exceptionalising perspectives of Socotrian women involves conceiving of everyday systemic, cultural and political practices, for instance understanding the niqab in pragmatic rather than ethnocentric terms. From a western secular perspective, it can be difficult to conceive of the niqab’s situated affordances in contexts like contemporary Afghanistan or Yemen. Yet, for some Muslim women, wearing the niqab is a matter of religious and national pride. In the Socotrian context, where the majority of women wear the niqab, it is also a deeply pragmatic choice that enables women to move around incognito (Sandels, 2010). Similarly, many of the Socotrian men wear misheda (head scarves) and mawwaz (sarongs). They often cover their faces while chewing on the mild stimulant khat. But even though the majority of Socotrian men and women wear traditional clothing, it is evident that Socotra’s culture is shifting and complex rather than primitive and stagnant. One such change is the significant upgrading of Socotra’s infrastructure and opening of The Socotra Archipelago University in September 2021. The new university is located at the entrance of the coastal capital of Hadiboh, the town which has also been known as Bilad-as-Sulyan, Hadibo, Hadibu, Hudaybu, Tamarida, Tamaridah, Tamar¯ıdah, Tamrida, Had¯ ¸ ıb¯u, Hudayb¯ ¸ u. The university is one of the largest and most modern buildings in the town, engulfed by the Jabal al-Jahir mountain range, small shops selling traditional Yemeni flatbread, doughnuts and fruit smoothies. The surrounding roads are littered with rubble, dusty old tires, burnt-out cars, abandoned concrete pilons and goats grazing on rubbish (Fig. 2). The university is funded by the UAE’s Khalifa Foundation and offers bachelor’s degrees, in Economics, Computer Science, Integrated Systems and English Language, to male and female Socotrian students. Female lecturers working there from the mainland Yemeni cities of Sanaa and Aden, like their male counterparts, have masters degrees and doctorates in computer science, economics and chemical

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Fig. 2 View of The Socotra Archipelago University

engineering. But although Yemeni professors from the mainland are relieved to have fled the conflict zone, some have had to leave their own children and families behind while they work in Socotra. Others tell us that they can feel like second-class citizens on the island and are considered outsiders or “Gadeh min Renhem” (Salim, 2021 p.55). Gadeh min Renhem is the Soctrian term for visitors who arrived in Socotra by land or sea. A further difference is that some of the Yemeni women lecturers and staff from the mainland do not wear the niqab, visibly illustrating some of the intersectional differences between Yemeni and Socotrian women. In the following section we outline the methodology of our study which is designed to grasp these intersectional issues via IFAS theorising.

3 Methodology Theoretical assemblage in this study is informed by an awareness that gender advancements can remain within traditional socio-material parameters of intersectional women’s contexts. This is important to consider, and we appreciate that established western feminist frameworks might be unable to articulate Socotrian women’s diverging ontoepistemologies (ways of being and knowing) (Braidotti, 2013). Crucially, we recognise that qualitative research is always structured by the experiences and perspectives of the researchers (Fairclough, 1990). Qualitative design can be an iterative process that involves ongoing assessment and selfreflexivity concerning the methodological processes. We are thus self-reflexive of the role that our own cultural and political subjectivities play while attempting to interpret Socotrian women’s perspectives. For instance, although, we originally intended to conduct a photovoice intervention, in the Socotrian context this soon proved to be a highly impractical and incongruent method. Photovoice is an established method

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developed initially by health promotion researchers (Wang and Burris, 1997). By utilising photographs taken and selected by participants, respondents can reflect upon and explore the reasons, emotions and experiences that have guided their chosen images. However, while many Socotrian women enjoy taking photographs on their mobile phones, the majority wear the niqab and rarely, if ever, reveal their faces in public or in photographs. Hence, while photovoice does not have to focus specifically on facial self-portraits, it would be unlikely and undesirable to obtain ethical approval from Socotrian women to engage with photovoice. Moreover, ethical restrictions could be placed on publishing photographs that might be obtained during a photovoice intervention while a further limitation could be that interpretations of the images presented will be dependent on the ideological framing of the authors and interpretations of our readers. Additionally, problems of photovoice in the Socotrian context are not just a matter of practicality but also one of ethnographic ethics. As Claude (1955) argued, colonial ethnography classically divided the world into ethnographic objects without history, writing or epistemology, versus the civilized world that could scrutinize, categorise and archive the other. Conversely, Socotra is a biodiverse natural environment and Anthropocene. Socotrian women are the carriers of distinct cultural practices, including wet-nursing or breast-feeding infants that are not their biological offspring (Peutz, 2013). However, rather than bringing to light varying ontoepistemologies, the dichotomy emerging from western ethnography becomes the colonial imaginary between a speaking subject and iconic object of representation. Furthermore, the complex politics of postcolonial counter-representation, for instance veiling and/or the niqab, have been inadequately accounted for by western-centrism or ‘writing back to the [western] center’ (Moore, 2008). To move beyond dichotomies of ethnography/alterity or the claims of researcher neutrality, and to acknowledge varying authorial interpretations, the novel IFAS framework is designed to acknowledge differing perspectives within a single study. As authors of the chapter, Widad is a Yemini woman working as an administrator at the university in Hadiboh, Socotra. As well as having an MSc in Environmental Science, she has lived in Socotra since August 2021. Prior to coming to Socotra, Widad taught at a college in Hodaidah City in west Yemen. Zoe is a transnational feminist academic who was a visiting scholar at the Socotra university. She is an assistant professor at a university in Dubai and has worked in the Middle East and South East Asia for several decades. Her research-specialism is Arab women’s social media and contextual styles of self-presentation beyond western practices of facial portraits (Hurley, 2019a, b, 2020, 2021, 2022). Under the theoretical umbrella of the IFAS framework, post-qualitative methods of the study involve a series of descriptive, analytical and autoethnographic vignettes. Unlike the methodological prescriptivism of certain quantitative and qualitative approaches, the IFAS framework sits under a post-qualitative umbrella which enables a critical “thinking-with” to adjust and align with the contextual issues but also to reorientate and disrupt normative paradigms constituting how we might conceive the world (Lather, 2016; St. Pierre, 2019). The varying authorial perspectives, conceptual snapshots and photographs being explored via the IFAS framework will therefore help to collate a diverging

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assemblage of perspectives which will coalesce as a vivid theoretical tapestry. Our primary rationale for developing the IFAS framework is that it enables us to articulate rather than conceal our own lived experiences and political motivations for conducting this research. We are aware that the information that we are sharing with our readers are merely snapshots of Socotrian women’s experiences which are filtered via our interpretations of being researcher-outsiders, or “Gadeh min Renhem” (people who arrived by sea or air). The analytic nodes shaping the presentation of the IFAS findings therefore construct aspects of the Socotra’s gendered terrain. These are summarised as the following: • Structural snapshots of the observable elements of Socotrian women’s lived practices. • Autoethnographic interpretations of Socotrian women’s cultural experiences via narrative vignettes and photographs. • Intersectional political theorising of the above snapshots, including narrative vignettes, photographs and interpretations. The above analytic nodes are considered individually as well as in combination in order to address the central research question of the chapter. This asks, how might intersectional feminist autoethnographic snapshots (IFAS) offer insights into Socotrian women’s lives? To address this question, the material images that are included in the chapter were taken by authors or sent to them by interlocutors involved in the study. While presenting the individual autoethnographic snapshots of each author, we move between first and third person to clearly indicate to the reader our authorial perspectives. The next iteration of IFAS theorising presents Widad’s insights into living and working on the island, before moving on to Zoe’s interpretations.

4 Findings: Socotra Snapshots 4.1 Widad’s IFAS Cartography Observable elements and structural features Widad is a Yemini national who, due to the conflict on the Yemen mainland, moved to the Socotra university in Hadiboh in August 2021. While living and working in Socotra with her family, Widad has become concerned with problematic questions relating to the everyday lives of Socotrian women. She is interested in precisely how these problems can be framed; how the women of Socotra feel about the issues and what might be done to improve or solve these issues. Widad believes that, although Socotra is one of worst places in the world for women and girls to live, it is not the first place where women’s oppression has occurred and, therefore, she is hopeful that it is possible to develop strategies for overcoming these issues. Next, we move on to Widad’s autoethnographic cultural interpretations, presented in the first person, in order to delve into her interpretations of the issues.

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Autoethnographic cultural interpretations In my opinion, what we can observe here, on the island of Socotra, is the lack of formal educational opportunities for everyone, both men and women. Gender oppression on the island is due to the lack of education over the centuries. Only 20 years ago, the first educational institutions appeared on the island. This means that only 20 years ago people got their first chance to get educated. In addition to the lack of formal education, you have to understand that for many centuries the people of Socotra have lived in total absence of modernity in all respects of life. This has helped to create a so called “tradition” on the island but what this actually means is an entrenched or habitual way of life. In the Islamic world, historically it is expected that women will follow and obey men, so this approach is much worse here, on the Island, and generally in Yemen, because women were and still are treated as objects, not as people, not as equals. For instance, there was a case of forced marriage between a nine-year-old girl and an old man on the Yemen mainland. Inevitably, this girl was abused in this so-called marriage and was forced to run away from her husband and formally address this issue in court in order to get a divorce (Rahim, 2016). I suggest that what is so important, in this instance, is that the rights of a little girl were finally heard. In my opinion, this case demonstrates the existing problems concerning the lack of laws for protecting women and girls on the Yemen mainland as well as on the island. Political factors At a political level, Widad’s insights suggest that Socotra is not only hampered by the lack of an educational infrastructure for women and girls but also the absence of political and legal rights for females. This comes from the systemic misogyny of Yemen’s legal system which continues to allow the gender abuse of women as well as the practice of child marriage. Life on the island for most females stems from such archaic and conservative political practices, including child marriage, and they are a constitutional aspect of Yemeni law. Due to gendered inequalities and patriarchal traditions, many female students are not allowed to continue their education after high-school graduation. Parents expect daughters to remain in the home and work for their families due to gendered traditions. Instead of continuing their education, or working on their careers, many Socotrian girls become trapped in a cycle of ignorance and consequently lack the legal protection and/or knowledge to confront gender violence and oppression. The lack of access to higher education and rates of child marriage are the most pressing issues facing Socotrian girls and these factors have a detrimental impact on their future. In view of these issues, as someone who is living in Socotra with their own family and working in Hadiboh’s university, Widad recommends that Socotrian women are given higher-education opportunities so that they are able to contribute to their family’s well-being and break out of the gendered poverty-trap. She suggests that this could be achieved by, not only allowing women to perform the classical female role in the family of taking care of children, but also by granting Socotrian women the same political public rights and freedoms as men, so they can function and work on the same

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level. Widad advocates that Socotrian women should have opportunities to set up local businesses, for instance selling groceries and hand-made products at the markets. This could help them to generate an income for their family and increase their agency as financial contributors. Finally, Widad believes that the promotion of Socotrian women’s self-awareness and self-esteem is vital to nurture their unrealised talents and abilities. Building on Widad’s perspective, next we move to Zoe’s autoethnographic snapshots to consider her interpretation of Socotra’s gendered landscape.

4.2 Zoe’s IFAS Cartography Observable elements and structural features Zoe is a transnational woman academic who has written extensively about Arab Muslim women’s empowerment. Although originally from the United Kingdom, she has spent her adult working life in Kuala Lumpur; Kuwait; Bandar Seri Begawan and Dubai. She visited Hadiboh’s university during the holy month of Ramadan (fasting month for Muslims). While at the university in Hadiboh, Zoe offered workshops and conducted informal walking interviews with women students, faculty and staff. During one student workshop (Fig. 3), about Arab women social media influencers (broadly defined as online content creators), the Socotrian women students pertinently pointed out the lack of reliable WIFI on the island. Nevertheless, the female students were highly responsive to the discussions of Arab Muslim women social media influencers, who are developing contextually engaging self-presentation repertoires (Hurley, 2019a, b). The Socotrian women Fig. 3 Socotrian women students attending a social media workshop

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Fig. 4 Socotrian women at a water well

students articulated strong knowledge of the distinct veiled affordances of Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and Telegram, including framing, filtering and curating selfpresentations (Hurley, 2021). Some of the students were interested in content curation and opportunities to develop social media businesses from the domestic sphere while taking care of children and carrying out other domestic tasks. Another observable aspect impacting Socotrian women’s access to higher education is their reliance on male family members for transportation. Few, if any, women drive cars on the island. One interlocutor told Zoe that even riding as a passenger on a motorbike is considered “haram” or inappropriate for Muslim women in Socotra. When visiting the island, Zoe observed scenes of groups of Socotrian women hitchhiking and travelling in the back of trucks. Socotrian women were seen washing their family’s clothes in the river and walking substantial distances in the heat to get fresh water from stone water wells (Fig. 4). While a number of Socotrian men, who work in Socotra’s growing tourism industry, drive SUVs or motorbikes and earn foreign currencies from tourism, Socotrian women will rarely come into direct or voluntary contact with western tourists. However, a growing issue in Hadiboh is the number of western tourists who arrive on the island and take unsolicited photographs of Socotrian women, framing them as a rare and novel exhibit of the landscape, a bit like the dracaena cinnabari or so-called ‘dragon blood trees’. While exploring the island with a Yemeni woman colleague from Hadiboh university, Zoe observed tourists directly approaching local women and asking them to photograph them or taking photographs without permission. Despite these tensions, Socotra’s gendered cartography is shifting. Some positive changes include the recently opened ‘Holiday Hotel (Hafij)’ and ‘Mohet Hotel’ which is run by the Yemeni Women Union. They also run the ‘Holiday&Fun’ Restaurant

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Fig. 5 Graffiti on the outskirts of Hadiboh

which is the only restaurant on Socotra with a women and family section. This means that women on the island now have one restaurant available to them. On the outskirts of the capital city Hadiboh, Zoe photographed a graffiti mural which also depicts the subtle fluctuations of Socotrian women’s identities (see Fig. 5). In this graffiti mural, we can observe that some of the female figures wear head scarves while others do not. Each figure wears a distinctly patterned kandura (dress): the first is decorated in stripes; the second consists of coloured ovals; the third appears to be decorated in the Arabic ayn—an evil-eye symbol used to ward off jealously, bad spirits and misfortune (Abu-Rabia, 2005); the fourth is centred by a heart; the fifth consists of seven hearts and the eighth figure’s kandura has two block colours and is topped with a traditional Yemeni wedding necklace. A further notable element of the graffiti mural is that each of the figures is faceless yet they stand hand-in-hand. Collectively, this image presents a vivid symbol of Socotrian female solidarity and it is a visual marker of the island’s range of female subjectivities, albeit located at the periphery of Socotrian culture and on the edge of the capital. With these points in mind, next we move on to Zoe’s first-person interpretations of Socotra’s cultural scene. Autoethnographic cultural interpretations In my opinion, the opening of a restaurant in Hadiboh that welcomes women is a significant development for Socotrian women. During my own short time on the island, at times, I found it intimidating to walk around the male dominated spaces unchaperoned. This first-hand experience helped me to appreciate why female Socotrian students believe that wearing the niqab in public places is a necessity if they wish to move around without attracting attention. Socotrian women that I spoke to told me that if they did not wear it, they would not be able to leave their homes to study or work. Wearing a niqab protects them from the dust and dirt on the roads while they hitchhike and catch lifts in the back of trucks. The Socotrian women

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students emphasised that they are keen to work outside of the home when they graduate and will continue wearing the niqab to be able to do so especially as this enables them to travel throughout the island and earn an income. For these young Socotrian women, the niqab thus has a range of affordances, including mobility, education, employment, as well as being a visual and contextual semiotic-indicator that they are indigenous members of Socotra while deflecting the male gaze. In terms of using social media like Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp and Telegram, the Socotrian women students showed me how they routinely use social media to create self-presentations of objects, places, and the natural environment to convey their feelings, opinions and experiences. For instance, one student’s Instagram included images of her family’s farm, camels and truck. From an analytic perspective, this image conveys the student’s strong sense of pride and belonging to the Socotrian environment and her extended family. Social media self-presentations are formed via social rituals; platform interfaces and gendered traditions (van Dijck 2013; Hurley, 2019a, b). Rettburg (2016) emphasises that self-presentations, including non-facial displays, rather than shallow practices are nuanced methods of impression management. Intersectional feminist analysis of self-presentations therefore needs to go beyond the face and consider the objects, colours, framing, lighting and arrangement of social actors’ images in terms of the significant contextual meanings and interpretations they facilitate (Hurley, 2021). Another Socotrian women student explained the importance of WhatsApp on the island as a vital channel of communication. Speaking to me on WhatsApp, she shared information about the Socotra Women’s Centre, on the outskirts of Hadiboh, that has been funded by the Saudi Arabian government. A further example of a funding project supporting Socotra’s development, is the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre, also under the sovereignty of Saudi Arabia. This has played a vital role in supporting women’s reproductive health services since Socotra’s clinics were non-functional, prior to 2019, leaving women on the island without birthing facilities or support for natal care (Unfpa.org, 2020). The UAE has also invested over $110 million of humanitarian aid to Socotra since 2015. This financial contribution has been injected into a series of crucial public services, from the health and education sectors to construction, fishing and transport. This aid has been delivered by organisations such as Emirates Red Crescent, the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation, the Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan Humanitarian and Scientific Foundation and Abu Dhabi Waste Management Centre. The UAE’s investments have also restored Socotra’s airport and paid for the construction of two solar power stations, the establishment of four power plants and the installation of power generators in remote villages (Thenational, 2021). Political factors While there is an evident absence of modern facilities for Socotra’s women, in both rural and urban areas to carry out domestic tasks, like washing and cooking, Socotrian women do have limited access to WIFI and are not entirely sealed-off from the twenty first century. Zoe’s discussions with the Socotrian women students indicate

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that they are acutely aware of the need for an education as well as social media’s veiled and niqabed affordances. The Socotrian women students demonstrated that they are conversant with a range self-presentation strategies, online and offline, that are contextually appropriate to MENA and Socotra’s gendered context. Conversely, what they do require is substantial funding of women’s education at all levels. In addition, Socotrian women students would benefit from financial grants and incentives to develop computer skills; guidance in managing businesses and training in entrepreneurial endeavors using social media. In addition to training, education and digital infrastructure, Socotrian women urgently require increased access to public transportation, electronic domestic appliances, washing machines and running water. Building on these IFAS insights, in the following section we will move on to a discussion of their implications.

5 Discussion Based on the IFAS snapshots presented above, as co-authors of this chapter, we suggest that intersectional feminist theory needs to go beyond monolithic perspectives of Socotrian women. This is crucial since reductionist perspectives could distort Socotrian women’s lives within the guise of essentialism and/or exceptionalism. Since the 1990s at least, with the emergence of new social movements, emphasising the diversity and complex identities and subjectivities of the postmodern era, feminist philosophers (Fraser, 2013; Nassbaum 2000; Young, 1990; Cin, 2017) have developed different approaches to reveal the structural, cultural and political inequalities arising from difference and misrecognition of women and suppressed groups. We will continue to consider these factors in our discussion of the implications of the IFAS of the Socotrian women’s context.

5.1 Structural Issues First, in terms of structural inequalities, the IFAS interpretations of Socotra help to reveal some of the divergent factors impacting on women’s lives on the island. Widad suggests that, although some Socotrian might women have the opportunity to receive a higher education, it is the entrenched and systemic misogyny of the island which inhibits women’s access to transport, career choices and political agency. Nevertheless, the opening of the university in Hadiboh; the opportunities for Socotrian women to embark on higher education; and the facilitation of some homosocial public spaces, like women friendly restaurants, are significant advancements for some Socotrian women. While acknowledging that education plays a key structural function and key tool for emancipation, Zoe suggests that Socotrian women could create unique spaces in the social media public sphere in order to develop voice and generate paid employment in relation to tourism and the local economy.

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Cultural factors Second, we suggest that like the affordances of wearing a headscarf (hijab) in the Gulf context, the niqab continues to function as an important identity bearer of Socotrian women’s culture. MENA scholars remind us that the niqab is regarded as a sign of oppression and Orientalism in the west and a symbol of the low social status of working-class women in the Arab world (Elyas et al., 2022). However, from a decolonial perspective, the niqab has situated affordances in the Yemeni context, for not only distinguishing Socotrian women from Yemeni women from the mainland, but also as a tool for Socotrian women who wish to pursue further education; access public spaces and advance their social class. As Elyas et al., (2022), point out during their analysis of the rapidly changing colour associations of Saudi Arabian women’s fashions, Socotra’s gendered cartographies are also shifting. The niqab’s affordances for shielding one’s face both offline and online are thus not considered from a deficit position by Socotrian women. IFAS theorising also indicates that aspects of Socotrian women’s voice are multifaceted. In terms of linguistic factors, Socotrian women are multilingual and able to speak Arabic, English and Socotrian dialects. They are active users of social media and articulate a contextual technological literacy, multimodality and agency. Conversely intermittent WIFI, lack of access to transport and a shortage of electronic domestic appliances are both a frustration and hindrance to Socotrian women’s lives. Political inequalities Third, although there are great hopes that the conflicts on the Yemen mainland might settle, MENA feminist literature indicates that while misogyny endures, the daily lives of women and girls will continue at the nexus of violence, exploitation and suffering. As long as MENA is politically organised in terms of structural, cultural and political misogyny, Socotrian women are unlikely to benefit substantially from the financial investments of Arabian Gulf countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Moreover, as Peutz (2013) suggests, Socotrian women’s political development is unlikely to advance significantly while they are restricted to traditional gendered practices like basket weaving. Nevertheless, the funding of homosocial women’s spaces, like the Socotrian Women’s Foundation, which was established in 2021 by the UAE’s Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation or the Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen, are important dwellings and serve as a refuge for Socotrian women, some of whom are widows, divorcees or victims of domestic violence. These insights emerging from the IFAS framework bring us to the concluding points of the study as well as some of the limitations and recommendations.

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6 Conclusion To explore Socotra’s gendered cartographies, the central question of this research asked, how can intersectional feminist autoethnographic snapshots (IFAS) offer insights into Socotrian women’s lives? To address this question involved theorising via multiple points of IFAS and collating a broad overview of the structural, cultural and political factors impacting Socotrian women’s lives. In terms of findings, from a historical perspective, IFAS revealed an Orientalist, colonial and neo-colonial imagination encapsulating Socotra, its people and images of Soctrian women as exotic objects of exceptionalism. IFAS theorising indicates that although the niqab is a controversial item of clothing in the western and MENA context, in Socotra it is an important symbol of contemporary culture and has a range of situated affordances for Socotrian women. The authors’ autoethnographic snapshots reveal Socotrian women’s intersectional challenges, including lack of transportation, absence of electronic domestic appliances, running water and intermittent WIFI. Foreign aid and investments in Socotra’s physical infrastructure, education and health system are helping to boost the island’s depleted public services. While this also serves the tourism industry, the flow of capital and build-up of rubbish from tourism is doing little to advance the daily practices or employment opportunities of Socotrian women. Although, some foreign investors and Socotrian men are benefiting from the tourism industry, Socotrian women require funding and training in building social media businesses so that they might also prosper. Although Socotrian women students demonstrated situated social media literacy, they remain an untapped pool of talent on the island who could be contributing to the sustainable development and empowerment of females in their context. In view of these findings, we believe that IFAS framework is generalisable, as a post-qualitative feminist research tool, to other contexts since it demonstrates the importance of situated research methods grounded in the ontoepistemologies of interlocutors. Limitations of the study are that it was carried out by women researchers who are outsiders, or Gadeh min Renhem. Rather than backgrounding this limitation, the IFAS brings the co-authors’ autoethnographic perspectives to the forefront and acknowledges their interpretative lenses. In terms of future research, we also recommend artefact prototyping interventions similar to the project carried out by Hurley (2019a, b), whereby Gulf-Arab women prototyped social media campaigns to highlight their situated and gendered functions and capabilities (Cin, 2017). As well as gathering insights into Socotrian’s women’s digital literacies, artefact prototyping could be employed as an emancipatory form of research, whereby Socotrian women would be agential interlocutors of the study and able to articulate the structural, cultural and political challenges and opportunities of their context. Overall, considering the grave history of gender inequalities and structural oppression of Socotrian women, foreign financial investments and aid for education and medical facilities alone are unlikely to substantially develop their political agency and public voice. Each of the above needs to be developed individually for systemic

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improvements to Socotrian women’s lives at structural, cultural and political levels. Structural changes are vital to bring about cultural and political developments at formal and informal levels. Socotrian women urgently require greater access to higher education; dependable and safe transportation; opportunities for earning incomes and managing business; radical improvements to the domestic sphere, including the upgrading of electronic appliances; basic utilities like running water and WIFI. Finally, the study reveals the interlocking structural, economic and political improvements necessary to reform Socotra’s gendered cartographies. Theorising emphasises the intersectional potential of Socotrian women and shifting practices on the island. This includes the opening of the Hadiboh university, which is increasing the opportunities for women to become graduates. As in the graffiti mural of Socotrian women (Fig. 5), although women and girls remain at the periphery of the island’s patriarchal culture, some are standing hand-in-hand to articulate a range of local talent, skills, and subjectivities. These articulations take Socotrian women beyond being mere symbolic bearers of the perils of misogyny, victims of globalisation, or the pawns of regional power tussles. Moreover, the mural expresses how the women of Socotra, whether veiled, niqabed or obscured from public view, have always been, and will continue to be, pivotal agents in the construction of Socotrian modernity.

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van Dijck, J. (2013). ‘You have one identity’: Performing the self on Facebook and LinkedIn. Media, Culture & Society, 35(2), 199–215. https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443712468605 Wang, C. & Burris, M. A. (1997). Photovoice: Concept, methodology, and use for participatory needs assessment. Health Education & Behavior, 24(3), 369–387. https://doi.org/10.1177/109 019819702400309 Wollstonecraft, M. (1792). A vindication of the rights of woman. J. Johnson. Young, I. M. (1990). Throwing like a girl and other essays in feminist philosophy. Indiana University Press.

Sustainable Environmental Practices of Socotra People Lacey M. Sloan and Amal Alawi Omar Bin Alawi

1 Sustainable Environmental Practices of Socotri People Humanity is waging a war with nature…We will all be losers if we don’t achieve peace with the planet. (United Nations Secretary General Guterres, 2021, para. 3–5)

This research attempts to identify traditional and indigenous practices that have successfully maintained the unique biodiversity of Socotra, Yemen, an island undergoing internationally funded development and environmental protection (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO], 2013). Many claim that we, as humans, are out of balance with nature (United Nations Secretary General, 2021; van Ham, 2021; World Wildlife Fund (WWF), 2020), whereas others claim the idea of balance in nature is a myth (Simberloff, 2014; Stocker, 2018). Nonetheless, climate change and environmental degradation have focused global attention on sustainable practices that can protect the environment while still providing resources needed for human well-being (Gilliam et al., 2023). The need for solutions is particularly acute in developing nations, where people are most vulnerable to the impact of climate change (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC], 2022; Ravindranath & Sathaye, 2002; United States Global Leadership Coalition, 2021; World Bank, no date). Although it is too simple to say that indigenous practices are the solution to environmental degradation (Briggs, 2005), scholars have suggested we look to traditional practices used by local and indigenous peoples for ideas that may offer some hope (Hernandez, 2022; Nelson & Shilling, 2018; Singh et al., 2021). Indigenous and local

L. M. Sloan (B) Auburn University at Montgomery, Montgomery, AL, USA e-mail: [email protected] A. A. O. B. Alawi United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 N. Slak Valek and A. A. Zedan (eds.), A Social View of Socotra Island, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4358-6_2

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peoples often have intimate relationships with, and knowledge about, the environment that informs their sustainable practices that protect the environment (Briggs, 2005; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [FAOUN], 2021; Herbert, 2000; Sloan & Schmitz, 2019; United Nations Environmental Program [UNEP], 2021; Wilson Center, 2021). Across the globe, indigenous peoples have been instrumental in preserving the natural ecology and reintroducing practices that mitigate the impact of post-industrial practices that have harmed the environment (FAOUN, 2021; Herbert, 2000; Sloan & Schmitz, 2019; Wilson Center, 2021). Socotra’s indigenous people have cared for and lived off the island’s resources for centuries, perhaps millenia, using traditional practices that maintained the fragile and unique biodiversity that exists today (van Damme & Banfield, 2011). Although Socotra’s unique ecology has been extensively studied (see, Al-Okaishi, 2021; Attorre & van Damme, 2020; Belles, 2021; van Damme et al., 2020), there is much less scholarship on the relationship of humans with this unique environment (see, Elie, 2020a, 2020b; van Damme, 2022; van Damme & Banfield, 2011). Understanding traditional Socotran practices could inform strategies for preserving the special ecology of this island as pressure from development grows. It could also inform practices beyond Socotra, such as other small islands that face some of the harshest consequences of environmental degradation. Despite centuries as a resupply stop for ships sailing from India to Africa and beyond, Socotra remained fairly isolated until 1990 when the island became unified with Yemen (van Damme, 2022). At that point, with only a private airstrip, and a monsoon season during which the island can become inaccessible for months, visitors were usually limited to scientists and a few hardy eco-tourists. Since unification, however, development has grown with support from the international community for infrastructure, education and health. Although development can be a means to reduce poverty and improve quality of life, it can also come at great cost to the environment. As development increases, the lives of the people and their relationships with the environment are changed in ways that some welcome (United Nations Sustainable Development Group [UNSDG], 2021), and others fear (Elie, 2020a). Recognizing the dangers of unplanned development, Yemen and the international community have identified Socotra’s unique ecosystem as highly vulnerable and are taking actions to protect it (UNESCO, 2021). To learn about the traditional and indigenous practices that have maintained Soctora’s ecosystem, short-term field research was conducted during a two-week excursion to Socotra in May 2022. Using a local guide, data was collected through the authors’ observations of human interactions with the environment; engagement in local activities (e.g., hiking, snorkeling); interviews with key informants (e.g., government officials, university faculty, community leaders) and community members; and review of government reports. As Muslim women dressed in traditional abaya and hijab, the researchers were able to interview and learn from local women. This was important because women’s traditional roles rely on daily interactions with the environment (e.g., obtaining water and food, cooking, warming the home) and women are most impacted by environmental degradation (e.g., lack of access to clean water, adequate food) (UN WomenWatch, 2009).

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2 Review of Literature As the environmental crisis impacts people across the globe (Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services [IPBES], 2018), the search for sustainable solutions has become the focus of international attention (Convention on Biological Diversity, 2022; IPCC, 2022). Climate change, environmental degradation, and loss of biodiversity heightens food insecurity, threatens water security, and negatively impacts health (Gilliam et al., 2023; IPBES, 2018; IPCC, 2022; Sloan & Schmitz, 2022). As the oceans rise and drylands and deserts expand, millions of people have been forced to leave their homes, creating long-term conflict, displacement, and harm (IPCC, 2022; Sloan & Schmitz, 2022). Around the world, reduced use of fossil fuels, crop diversity in agriculture, agroforestry and indigenous practices are being adopted as potential solutions. Below, we discuss indigenous and traditional practices that are environmentally sustainable, followed by a description of Socotra.

2.1 Indigenous Practices and Environmental Sustainability Indigenous peoples make up about 5% of the global population, and manage about 20% of the earth’s surface, which contains about 80% of the global diversity (Alexander et al., 2021; Toledo, 2013; United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs [UNDESA], 2021). The use of indigenous and traditional practices that protect the environment, people, and culture are being examined as potential solutions to our current environmental crisis (Aikenhead & Ogawa, 2007; IPCC, 2022; Sloan et al., 2020; Sloan & Schmitz, 2019, 2021; Warren et al., 1999; WHO, 2021). ‘Indigenous’ does not imply no human interference with the environment; in fact, many indigenous peoples practiced sophisticated agriculture, irrigation and manipulation of plants to increase yields. Although there are debates about the value of indigenous knowledge, most of these create a false dichotomy between indigenous knowledge and western scientific knowledge (Briggs, 2005). In practice, indigenous knowledge continues to evolve and ‘seeing with two eyes,’ that is, the indigenous and the modern worlds, is being embraced in many efforts to restore ecosystems. For example, the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples living along the Yukon River brought Indigenous practices and western science together to reclaim the river and the communities that are sustained by the river (Sloan & Schmitz, 2021; Waterhouse, 2012). Using indigenous practices, they took annual canoe trips to take water quality samples and teach traditional practices to the local peoples along the river (Sloan & Schmitz, 2021; Waterhouse, 2012). As noted previously, disadvantaged groups are most vulnerable to the negative consequences of climate change, including indigenous peoples, women and girls, and poor or displaced people (IPCC, 2022; WHO, 2021). Recognizing the importance of the natural resources to local culture, indigenous grassroots movements—many

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led by women—have been successful in slowing environmental degradation and restoring the environment (see Maathai, 2003) (Sloan et al., 2020; Sloan & Schmitz, 2019, 2021; Tegel, 2022; WHO, 2021). For example, in less than a decade, Brazil reduced deforestation 67% by protecting indigenous land rights and changing agricultural practices (Oregon State University, 2017; Union of Concerned Scientists, 2011). In Indonesia, Khao Din farmers created a community forest and implemented agroforestry, resulting in reduced deforestation, reversed soil degradation and increased food security (Marten & Suutari, 2006). And in Peru, indigenous water collection dikes—called amunas—are being restored in the hopes of supplying water to over a million people in Lima (Tegel, 2022). The farming practices of indigenous peoples may help feed a warming world (Ajo Center for Sustainable Agriculture, 2022; Altieri, 1999; Gilbert, 2021). Indigenous practices are being reclaimed to reduce environmental degradation while maintaining agricultural and ecological sustainability (Sloan et al., 2020). Intercropping or mixed cropping, an indigenous practice of planting complimentary crops together, can reduce the use of pesticides and fertilizers, keep more moisture in the soil and enhance harvest yields (Maitra et al., 2021). In Pakistan some farmers are using indigenous agricultural practices such as soft tillage with oxen—which allows more nutrients to remain in the soil than machine tillage—to reduce environmental degradation and increase sustainability (Chaudry & Chaudry, 2011). For harvesting and planting, community members come together to help each other, reducing the need for expensive fossil fuel powered equipment (Chaudry & Chaudry, 2011). Other indigenous practices also offer strategies that can reverse land degradation, such as farming animals and crops together so the manure is used to restore depleted soils and increase carbon storage in the soil through “reduced or no-till farming practices, cover crops, green manures or intercropping” (IPBES, 2018, p. 19). Small islands are especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, already experiencing rising tides, increased temperatures, and decreased access to fresh water which endangers food and water security, biodiversity, and human health (McMillen et al., 2014). Indigenous and local peoples living on small islands have a long history of resilience to environmental variability in part because they understand how climate affects access to resources, and adapt accordingly (Barnett & Campbell, 2010; Berkes, 2009; Campbell, 2009; Nakashima et al., 2012; Poepoe et al., 2007; Thaman et al., 2002). These responses include ways to ensure availability of food through practices such as intercropping, preservation and storage of food, and aquaculture (Barnett & Campbell, 2010; McMillen et al., 2014; Nunn, 2009; Thaman et al., 2002). Many island communities use limits on fishing that have enabled marine resources to be sustained (McMillen, 2014). For example, in Hawai’i, controls on fishing, such as banning the taking of marine sources during certain times, were strictly enforced allowing fish populations to replenish themselves thus providing for ecosystem integrity that still supplied communities with a sustainable source of food (Friedlander et al., 2013; Jupiter et al., 2014; McMillen, 2014). Many indigenous peoples have a special connection to water as the source of life; women are seen as water protectors because of our connection with water beginning with the amniotic fluid in which all human life begins (Alexander, 2021). Access to

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fresh water is growing more challenging as populations increase and climate change impacts availability of water. In many locations, rain is often the ultimate source of fresh water, which can be captured in streams and lakes, cisterns, naturally occurring basins (i.e., depressions in the earth), or even in human-made dams (Queensland Government, no date). Indigenous peoples also built systems that moved or directed water to collection sites, including underwater tunnels (Skatssoon, 2006; Tegel, 2022). It is important to not romanticize indigenous and traditional practices and the ability to protect ecosystems (Briggs, 2005). Nonetheless, prior to European colonization beginning in the fifteenth century, Indigenous and Tribal Peoples of North America had sophisticated agriculture and irrigation systems (Robertson, 2018; Tegel, 2022). “Indigenous peoples in the U.S. (and around the world) tend to have relationships with the land and the environment that are qualitatively different than populations built on imperialism and heavy industrialization” (Gilio-Whitaker, 2017, para. 1). Although there are still questions about the transferability of indigenous knowledge to other contexts (Briggs, 2005) or to non-indigenous people (Courtice & Murphy, 2015), it seems clear that environmental sustainability requires indigenous and local peoples and knowledge (Betigeri, 2020; Gammage, 2011; IPCC, 2022).

2.2 Socotra The Socotra Archipelago, part of Yemen, is a string of four islands with a unique biodiversity attracting a growing eco-tourism economy (Kasim & Al-Gahuri, 2015). The Archipelago, of which only two islands are inhabited, is located approximately 155 miles east of Somalia and 236 miles south of Yemen (Elie, 2020a). Although population estimates vary, most sources suggest there are approximately 60,000 inhabitants on the island (UNEP, 2022). It’s strategic location in the Indian Ocean along trade routes between Africa, Arab countries, and India has led to many countries staking claim to it over the centuries (Britannica, 2022). Today, Socotra remains strategic geopolitically, with much interest in controlling the island’s ports and resources (Fenton-Harvey, 2020). Residents indicate the island began growing rapidly following the opening of the airport in 2002 (Economic Times, 2021), which currently—usually—offers Socotran’s weekly flights to Abu Dhabi where many have family members, and access health care; it also brings in tourists and developers. Although not without detractors, in 2012 the UAE built an asphalt road that encircles most of the island (Elie, 2020b). While the road has made movement of people, water, and other goods much easier, it has collapsed in certain parts and divided natural habitats and water flow (Elie, 2020b; van Damme, 2022). And, electric, water, sewage, and cellular infrastructure is spreading across the island (Dabinhei, 2020). Solar panels have been installed at several sites on Socotra, and there is an eye to exploring wind and tides to reduce petrol consumption and increase clean energy (Dabinhei, 2020).

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As noted by van Damme, a UK researcher who has spent decades conducting research in Socotra, “people who live on islands depend strongly on their understanding of the…natural environment for their long-term survival” (2022, p. 8). Without such knowledge, people isolated on islands would quickly deplete resources, making life unsustainable. Socotrans have sustained the environment using traditional strategies that balanced the needs of people with the protection of the environment. Unfortunately, Socotra has already experienced some negative consequences of growth and development, such as plastics pollution, land degradation, and overuse of resources (IUCN, 2020). As development continues, traditions are changing, including new consumer-based lifestyles that may separate people from the environment. For centuries, Socotrans have depended upon the island’s resources (e.g., water, fish, dates, honey, aloe, frankincense, dragon’s blood, etc.) for survival (IUCN, 2020). They developed practices that enabled them to use the resources of the island in ways that ensured the continuation of these resources (Cheung & DeVantier, 2006). Sheikhs enforced traditional rules that prohibited overuse, thereby ensuring the sustainable availability of resources, especially water and wood (van Damme, 2022). Knowledge of those traditional practices has been kept alive through the “waning memories, songs, and stories of the elders” (van Damme, 2022, p. 52). Fortunately, some of this ethnobotanical knowledge is being preserved through collaborations between locals and western researchers that document and describe the uses of, and practices to conserve, the island plants and animals (IUCN, 2020). Development usually results in alteration of the local habitat and Socotra is no different. There are many local, regional, national, and international efforts to protect the unique environment of the Socotra Archipelago. Beginning in 2000, a Yemeni Presidential Decree identified most of the Socotra Archipelago as a National Park under the Socotra Conservation Zoning Plan (SCZP) (International Union for Conservation of Nature & UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre, 2017). In 2003, the Socotra Archipelago was designated as a UNESCO Man and Biosphere (MAB) Reserve; in 2007, a Wetland of International Importance Ramsar Site in 2007 (Detwah Lagoon); and in 2008, a UNESCO World Heritage site (International Union for Conservation of Nature & UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre, 2017). With 75% of the land, and 91% of the waters around the island now protected by these designations, it has restricted traditional use of these lands by locals who have relied on the island resources for centuries, or even millenia, to survive. The World Heritage Committee and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) suspect the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of Socotra is threatened by “uncontrolled development, unsustainable use of natural resources, climate change, plastic pollution, lack of sustainable funding and the absence of adequate biosecurity measures to avoid the introduction of Invasion Alien Species (IAS)” and recommended Socotra be added to the list of World Heritage Sites in Danger (World Heritage Center, 2021, para. 8). At the same time, development has provided access to clean water, health care, and education for thousands across the island.

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3 Research Methods This field research used qualitative methods to learn about local and indigenous practices traditionally used that have protected the unique biodiversity on the island of Socotra. We did not know what traditional practices would be available to us but since basic human survival requires sustainable sources of water, food, and protection from the elements, these were a priori areas of interest. Once we arrived on Socotra, observations and interviews directed our gaze to water collection and storage, fishing practices, family and village gardens, use of dead wood for cooking and building, use of local stone for building, and waste disposal. A research team of two women, both Muslim, one a native Arabic speaker but bilingual in English, and the other a native English speaker with only casual ability to communicate in Arabic, collected data on the island of Socotra over a two-week period in May 2022. Semi- and un-structured interviews and observations were the primary means of data collection that informed the study. Historical and current reports and documents were shared by several participants. Extensive notes were maintained by the researchers, with all data being translated and transcribed, as needed, for data analysis. Lessons learned about indigenous practices that promote environmental sustainability were summarized, with examples used to highlight the findings. We intended to stay in Socotra for three weeks, but upon arrival were notified that the weekly flight to/from Abu Dhabi was being reduced to once every two weeks. Therefore, we made the decision to shorten the trip by one week, rather than extend it. We had little knowledge of the circumstances in which we would find ourselves upon arrival in Socotra and our ability to access participants. Prior researchers identified many challenges in conducting research on the island, including the inaccessibility of local women (Kasim & Al-Gahuri, 2015). We were even unclear about whether we would be staying in villages with families, camping out, or staying at the Socotra Archipelago University. In the end, the University provided accommodations, although we spent one night in a mountain village with our driver’s family.

3.1 Positionality of Researchers As noted earlier, both researchers are women and Muslim. The first author is a 65 year-old U.S. citizen and social work professor who lived in Qatar (2009–2011) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) (2014–2018) facilitating the development of social work education programs. She converted to Islam in 2010 while working in Qatar, but only knows basic conversational Arabic. She is the mother of one adult daughter. The second author is a 44-year-old Yemeni citizen and recent graduate from UAE University as a master’s level clinical psychologist. She has lived with

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her family in the UAE for most of her life. She is fluent in English, having received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from English-instruction institutions. As outsiders wanting to connect with local participants, we used our similarities with participants as one way of entry and establishing rapport (Guillemin & Heggen, 2009; Tannen, 1991). We showed our similarities through open identification as Muslims, demonstrated by wearing traditional abayas and hijabs while in public or any private space where men were present; praying regularly; and knowledge of Islam. This not only showed similarities but also respect for local customs and beliefs. The second author is Arabic-speaking and originally from Yemen, which provided another similarity with participants, bestowing an almost-insider status. In addition, both researchers are trained behavioral health professionals, so we used other rapportbuilding strategies such as active listening, genuine interest in participants, and small talk to build trust and elicit honest, rich information (Molden, 2011; Youell & Youell, 2011). Although we feel a limitation of this research was our limited time in Socotra, there are just as many arguments for being enmeshed in a culture for research, as there are against (Fay, 1996).

3.2 Sampling Purposeful and convenience sampling were used to gather data from a variety of participants, including government officials; University faculty and students; community leaders; business owners; local workers; and community members. Identification and recruitment of people to participate in formal or informal interviews was facilitated through the assistance of our local contact and tour company owner (Abdulla) provided by the editors of this book. We paid this company to provide a driver, meals, and activities on the island. The owner of the tour company was a well-respected businessman on the island and able to provide access to government officials, people on the island with interests in environmental sustainability, and other community members. Other participants were identified and recruited through the Socotra Archipelago University faculty and administration. And, we often engaged people we met in informal dialogue (e.g., waiters at a local restaurant, concrete workers we passed while walking to the beach, business owners/stall owners). Participating in several tourist activities provided convenient access to people in villages around the island. As we toured the island, we invited people we encountered to participate in interviews. For example, when the native Arabicspeaking researcher (second author) took a four-hour hike to a cave, she invited her 18-year-old guide to participate in an interview. At the same time, the native English-speaking researcher (first author) walked into the adjacent village, where she was invited into homes by women in the village, communicating casually through gestures and minimal Arabic to establish relationships. When the Arabic-speaking researcher/second author returned from the cave, she invited women to participate in formal interviews.

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3.3 Participants We were interested in speaking with and/or observing the practices of local people who could teach us traditional practices that had sustained life on the island of Socotra. We were able to identify and interview local elders with knowledge of traditional practices; locals still engaged in practices dependent upon the environment (e.g., fishers, tour guides, pastoralists); local women; a traditional doctor; a government official; Socotra Archiplego University faculty, staff, and students; and other community members. We considered anyone we encountered to be a potential source of information. Below is a brief description of the people with whom we conducted formal and informal interviews. Except when asked to use a person’s name, all names are pseudonyms. • Abdullah is the owner of the tour company we were directed to prior to our trip to Socotra. He was familiar with the book editors and focus of the research. He notes that his family has lived in Socotra for over 300 years. He was our first source of information about Socotra, including day-to-day life, government structure, international development, and potential participants. He met with us daily for dinner, reviewing the day’s activities and strategizing future participants and activities. We questioned Abullah regularly as one means of triangulating our observations and interactions. • Ahmed was our driver while we were in Socotra, spending many hours each day with us. He was informally interviewed daily, providing valuable explanations, interpretations, insight, and access to participants. He is a middle-aged man, with a wife and five children who live in the mountains. His wife is a milk sibling to Abdullah. • Fatima (Ahmed’s wife) and women in his village were also participants in this research. We attended a Friday lunch in Ahmed’s village in which all the village contributes to the meal. We ate lunch and talked with about 15 women in the village. • Ameena, a young woman (about 30 years of age), was informally interviewed over the course of the two days we spent with women from Ahmed’s village. • Noora, a young woman (about age 18) in a village who could speak some English, served as a guide to the gardens around her village. • Sadiya is an older woman and environmental activist in Socotra. She has a podcast and has been very visible in her actions to protect the environment, often called ‘the Iron Woman of Socotra.’ Sadiya lives in a home with her daughter and grandchildren on the beach. She supports tourism by providing a toilet, food, and water for visitors who come to visit. (See https://m.facebook.com/watch/?v=256 857678799916&_rdr and https://socotrapost.com/socotranews/1307) • Ali is an older man who lives on the edge of the Diksam plateau, where Dragon Trees are protected. He participates in the tourist industry by taking visitors on hikes and sharing knowledge about the local flora and fauna. He and his family have been here for generations, although with income from tourism they now live in the town of Hadibo during the academic year so that his children and

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grandchildren can attend school. He and several boys (ages 6–10 years old) shared lunch with us and allowed us to interview them. Zainab is an older woman with many children and grandchildren living near her in her village. The first author met her family while the second author was hiking to a cave. Known to our driver, Zainab joined us on two outings—once swimming and eating lunch, and another driving to the end of the island where the two oceans merge. She also made at least two trips into Hadibo and met with the second author. Khadija is a middle-aged daughter of Zainab, and mother to several children. She lives next door to her mother. Along with Zainab, she participated in a formal interview. Khadija also provided a tour of her gardens. Aisha and Sunah are an elderly mother and married adult daughter with her own children, with whom we had dinner one evening (at Aisha’s home). Aisha walks with her husband every day to the pastures to milk the cows. Several Socotra Archipelago University faculty, staff, and students participated in this research, primarily through informal interviews. After providing a lecture to University students about environmental sustainability, the authors questioned the students about their observations, experiences, and understandings about environmental practices. Hasson, from the mainland of Yemen, is an educator and businessman who is an advocate for the inclusion of children with disabilities in K-12. We interviewed him in English at his home with his wife and two children present. Four male staff at the local restaurant (ages 18–25), were interviewed formally by the second author. Since we ate two to three meals at the restaurant each day, we had engaged in small talk with them while they served our table. They often had questions about our identities and countries, and we asked them questions about their families and education. The second author conducted a formal group interview with three of the staff, followed by an individual interview with another. The Minister of Water and the Environment was formally interviewed at his office. Although he spoke English, most of the interview was conducted in Arabic. He showed us reports and planning documents for water and sewage infrastructure that are ready to implement when funding becomes available. Maali is a young Kuwaiti organizer employed by an international nongovernmental organization. She was in Socotra securing final arrangements for two days of cataract surgeries for 500 Socotrans. We informally interviewed her (in English) over dinner. Dr. Tanuth, a traditional doctor in Hadibo, is an older man who was informally interviewed about the various herbal medicines he had in his shop. He previously participated with researchers to document the flora around the island, resulting in several published books on the topic.

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3.4 Data Collection Observation and semi- and un-structured interviews with Socotran people were the primary sources of data. Since most of the participants were Arabic and Socotran speakers, the native Arabic speaking researcher/second author conducted most interviews. For formal interviews, once introduced to a potential participant, the second author described the purpose of the research and invited them to participate in an interview. If they agreed to an interview, they were also asked if the interview could be audio-taped; five participants agreed to be audio-recorded. Each evening, we wrote extensive notes of each interview, including observations and reflections. Interview questions were used to inquire about traditional practices used by Socotran people related to environmental sustainability. A formal interview would include questions about traditional practices for obtaining water and food, building shelter, and managing waste. For example, while meeting with the Sadiya, who lives on the beach and fights to save the environment, we asked about traditional practices of fishing, obtaining water, and disposing of trash. While in the Dragon Tree reserve, we asked about harvesting Dragon Tree or Frankincense strategies that have sustained the tree. When in a village, we interviewed the women about how they had traditionally obtained water and food and disposed of trash. Observations were made throughout our time on the island with a primary focus on practices that impacted the environment. Some observations led to interviews and some interviews led to observations. For example, while walking to the beach in Hadibo to see the trash, we passed a worksite on the beach where men were making concrete blocks, one at a time, and many bricks were laying out to dry. We inquired about the process and the source of materials. Alternately, our interviews in villages often led to being shown their gardens along with water and waste management systems. As a small gesture of appreciation, we gave jellabiyas—a traditional long dress worn under abayas—to women who participated in interviews. We brought 30 jellabiyas in various sizes to Socotra, costing approximately $10 US each. No mention was made of offering the jellabiyas in exchange for interviews, but after an interview, a jellabiya was offered to the person interviewed, and sometimes to other women who were present. For example, we distributed 15 jellabiyas to women in the village where we stayed overnight. For the men we interviewed, we offered jellabiyas for their wives.

3.5 Data Analysis As in much qualitative data analysis, analysis was an ongoing process that informed daily data collection and review of the data. Throughout data collection, we reviewed and compared our notes and identified areas that needed further clarification. The second author would share information from the interviews conducted in Arabic and

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discuss what questions remained. After returning home, both authors typed up their daily notes from observations, interviews, and reflections. The second author also transcribed and translated audio-taped data from Arabic to English. This resulted in all data being in text on MS Word. After returning home, we independently read and reread the interview transcripts and notes taken in the field from interviews and observations. Documents provided by research participants were included in analysis. Each of us manually identified/ coded the data, identifying practices that impact the environment. We then compared our coding and agreed upon final organizing themes. The data was then sorted by themes and quotes selected that exemplified the data.

3.6 Ethical Considerations Conducting international research with local and indigenous peoples requires attention to special ethical considerations. Both authors completed the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) training on ethical conduct of research prior to engaging in this study. The first author has conducted previous research in the Arab Gulf region approved through Institution Review Boards (IRB) at institutions with which she was affiliated at the time, so has experience with human protections in international contexts. Although there was no Institutional Review Board through which we could request a review and approval, we followed international practices to protect the participants in this study. For example, we provided interview participants verbal information in Arabic about the purposes of the research, risks and benefits, confidentiality, their right to not answer questions or to withdraw completely, and, how we would share what they told us. We provided pseudonyms for participants, and did not report information that could potentially allow for participants to be identified—except for participants who wanted to be identified. We occasionally encountered locals who spoke only Socotri; if we were with our driver, Ahmed, he would provide casual interpretations. We maintained our data on password protected computers and destroyed all audio tapes after they were transcribed.

4 Findings Perhaps because the area being researched is an island—an almost closed system with a great deal of interdependence—most practices related to human survival were relevant to understand how locals had sustained the unique biodiversity on Socotra. The practices that we were able to observe and/or learn about from interviews included (1) how food was obtained and stored; (2) how water was obtained, used, and stored; (3) land use; and (4) waste disposal. Therefore, the findings are divided into those four sections.

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4.1 Food There were four obvious sources of food in Socotra: fishing, livestock, agriculture, and imported food. Here, we will discuss traditional fishing and agricultural practices. Although we saw many goats, a few cows, and camels, we only had the opportunity to interview one person whose family still had cows—Aisha—and felt we had inadequate data to report on traditional livestock management practices.

4.1.1

Fishing

Fish is a staple of the Socotran diet, at least for those living in the coastal areas. The fish available on any given day is based on what has just been caught and brought to market that morning. Based on observations, many fishermen still have traditional boats and use practices that have been followed for centuries—fishing with nets, lines, and traps. One difference is that many of these boats now have petrol-fueled engines. On the beach near a fishing village, we met a well-known environmental activist, Sadiya (aka, the Iron Woman of Socotra). She identified herself as “the daughter of a well-known fisherman who learned a lot from him about fishing and diving and how to protect marine wealth….In the past, my father and grandfathers were diligent in protecting marine wealth from exploitation.” She describes herself as a “daughter of the sea and an experienced and accomplished fisherman who swims with the skill of shepherding sheep.” She indicated the fish used to be very diverse and plentiful because “in the past, they used nets with much wider holes so that small fish could escape. Now, they changed the nets to a tighter weave and they catch all size fish, which is killing the future generation of fish.” She added “[In the past] we put the net on the coast at 5 p.m. and return at 4:00 a.m. to find abundant fishing with ease.” Sadiya expressed her deep sense of frustration and sorrow with the lack of enforcement of international prohibitions on fishing practices that have harmed the entire ecosystem. She noted “the density of fish is very low and even turtles have not been spared…and now the birds have become fewer and mostly gone away.” Sadiya said she tries to advise people to use nets with larger openings so smaller fish have time to grow and can be caught when they are larger. Unfortunately, “they do not listen to me, I have no authority to punish them…. they don’t care,” according to Sadiya. She also indicated there is no police or government to punish and deter violators. She added “For my part, I am trying to fight, but no one listens to me.”

4.1.2

Family and Village Gardens

Although widespread agriculture for food consumption does not appear to be a traditional practice, many families and villages currently have gardens that supply fruits and vegetables. These small gardens were for family use and were not grown to

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sell. At one village, Khadija showed me her gardens and it is clear she is following practices that sustain a healthy environment, although it was not clear if these are traditional practices that have been used for generations or have been taught through recent NGO efforts to reduce food insecurity. Her smaller garden was surrounded by a homemade fence of sticks to keep other animals out, but she had one lamb and one kid (baby goat) inside the garden to keep them safe and for the manure. She used the shade of a plant that draped over the top of the garden to allow more sunsensitive plants to grow underneath. She was growing tomatoes, peppers, cantelope, and watermelon, indicating that she learned what to plant from years of observation, and more recently, from seeing the imported foods they were selling in town. Her larger garden had watermelon and aloe vera plants and housed two calves. In this area, there was a large cistern and a couple smaller receptacles to catch rainwater; she showed us how she watered the garden. In Ahmed’s village, women showed us family gardens, and two larger gardens that belonged to the village. A wadi along the edge of the village ran through the larger gardens with date palm trees, banana trees, squash, watermelon, and other plants we did not recognize and translation could not communicate. The large gardens were fenced to keep the animals from destroying the plants. There was also a small garden, maybe 12 × 10 feet, perched between the village and the stream below, seemingly not connected to a particular home. An older woman was in the fenced garden with a small boy, seeming to be watering the garden. The garden had tomatoes, watermelon, peppers, shallot-type onions, and other plants. At another garden inside a family’s yard they were growing watermelon, cantaloupe, some herbs, eggplant, and a banana tree. This garden was on two levels, one level 3–4 feet lower than the top level with taller plants on the top level used to provide shade for plants on the lower level. More than one participant indicated that an organization had recruited two women from each village to take courses on protecting the environment. The women were told they would be the village coordinators and receive a small monthly stipend to carry out these duties. Participants indicated they attended the classes but never received any payments. In addition, they said the classes did not teach them anything they had not already known about environmental sustainability.

4.1.3

Food Storage

Food on Socotra was often obtained on a daily basis; due to the harsh seasons on the island, however, the collection and storage of food for periods when food was not accessible was critical to surviving. As we learned, some food items were stored in dried goatskins, where they could survive for years. Dates were the most common food we saw in goatskins, but we were told that aloe vera was also stored in goatskins, especially when prepared for export. In addition, cleaning and drying fish is a skill that women on the island have used for centuries to ensure a supply for difficult times, or for export. Salt from the marshes was used to dry fish.

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4.2 Water For a mountainous island surrounded by water, it was initially difficult to identify the Socotrans’ sources of water for drinking, cleaning, and agriculture. Based on interviews, and observations, it became clear that water flows from the mountains into streams/wadis into the ocean. According to several participants, traditionally, this surface water was used for agriculture, washing, and cleaning. There were/are also underground aquifers from which water could be extracted through dug wells. This water was used for drinking and cooking. And, rainfall was captured in cisterns, which could be used for any of the purposes noted above. However, participants noted that water stored in uncovered cisterns needed to be boiled prior to drinking. We observed traditional means of water collection and storage. Collection of water is a job traditionally done by women and girls, often involving long walks to the source of water. This still happens today. While driving near the coast, we observed two girls carrying large jugs of water on their backs, with no obvious sign of the source of the water. Based on interviews, the source of the water was likely a nearby freshwater stream/wadi, or a well. In one village, we observed women using the stream/wadi on the edge of the village to wash clothes, water which could also be collected for cleaning dishes. The stream/wadi was also the source of water for free-ranging goats and other livestock and the village’s date palms and community gardens. At another village, women showed us the cistern used to collect rainwater for the garden and for goats enclosed next the garden. Sadiya told us that she has a salty well “so we use it only for washing, cleaning, and planting.” She showed us the salt water well, where she brings water up with a bucket, although there is also a pump to bring the water to a water storage tank where it can be pumped to the house for cleaning, not drinking. Sadiya indicated there is another well further from the beach where they can collect drinking water and bring it back to the house for drinking and cooking. It was our observation that most people outside Hadibo were frugal with their water. When washing dishes, no soap was used, but water from a large bowl was used to rinse serving trays, pots and pans, and glassware. Since meals are eaten with hands from a communal tray, there were no individual plates or flatware to be washed. We also saw no small plastic water bottles (i.e., under one liter) in the rural villages, although there were larger plastic containers used to carry water. At one village, we were asked for the liter-size plastic bottles we brought so they could use it to store cow’s milk.

4.3 Land Use The three geological areas of Socotra are the beach, the limestone plateau, and the granite mountains. In each, land is used for different purposes. As noted previously, we did not observe any widespread agricultural use of the land save a few small

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date plantations, and family gardens. However, the trees that grow across Socotra are unique and serve many purposes, including resins for medicine and other uses; providing shade for plants; homes for birds, bees, insects, and other animals; wood for cooking and construction; and protecting soil from erosion. Other resources from the land include stone and sands used in construction.

4.3.1

Wood and Forests

Much of the attention given to Socotra is because of the Dragon’s Blood trees, although Frankincense and Bottle Trees are also of interest. We traveled through the Haggeher Mountains to see the Dragon’s Blood Tree reserve on Diksam Plateau. A local guide, Aisa walked us up a hill to a place under a Dragon’s Blood tree where we sat and talked. He cut a bit of Dragon’s Blood sap off the tree—about the size of a pea. Aisa said he and his family have been in this area for centuries; he has lived his whole life in the mountains. Aisa said it did not hurt the tree to remove the sap, and that this was the time of year it is collected. He said the trees were the same as they had been when he was a child and are harvested in the same way. However, thanks to development and tourism, Aisa and his family now have a home in Hadibo where they live during the academic year so the children can attend school without the hour plus commute each way. Traditionally, there was widespread recognition of the importance of trees and plants as food sources or products to trade with outsiders, and as a critical part of the ecosystem to reduce soil erosion. According to Sadiya “… in the past, my father and grandfathers were diligent in protecting marine wealth from exploitation and were keen to take care of the trees that filled the beach to preserve the … environment and to preserve sheep food and provide a natural pasture of animal wealth.” Based on stories of human struggles during the monsoon season, and the devastation of cyclones, historically, the people of Socotra had no choice but to maintain the ecological balance if they were going to survive. As noted by Aisa, Khadija and Sadiya, the resources of Socotra are not unlimited—the resources had to protected, even if that meant restrictions on fishing, harvesting or other use of the land. According to several participants, dead trees have traditionally been a source of fuel for cooking. During a visit in one village, a woman pointed to a pile of sticks and branches—maybe each 5–6 feet long, but not more than an inch or two in diameter. She explained that traditionally the women would go up the mountain and collect the wood into a pile and the men would bring it down. When asked, she indicated they only use dead wood, they do not cut down trees for wood. The woman gestured a stick snapping to know it was dead.

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Human-Made Structures

The homes and buildings we saw on the island of Socotra were made from local stones gathered from the island. In the rural areas, most of the homes are traditional one-story stone structures, with a stone wall enclosing the home compound. Dried sticks or branches may be tied together for a gate, and the yard inside the home’s wall were often covered in gravel and small stones. Most of the walls were not cemented except for newer housing structures that have some concrete near the top. The inside walls of the homes we visited were usually bare stone, but at least one older home we visited had what appeared to be plaster lining the inside walls. The homes and majlis’ often had intentional one-to-two brick-size holes in the walls to allow for airflow. With many new buildings going up along the coast, we paid particular attention to the materials being used. In Hadibo, there was a small group of men making concrete blocks, so we inquired as to the process. They had a small concrete mixer and piles of what appeared to be reddish sand—local sand, according to the workers. The sand was added to the concrete mixer, then poured into a type of press that shaped the material into concrete blocks. The blocks were then laid out to dry. These concrete blocks were destined for the hotels being built nearby. In homes that were being newly constructed, different colored local rocks were used to make simple designs (e.g., each row of stones might be a different color). Older traditional homes were usually made of stones of the same color—sand. Based on observations and interviews, the exterior stone on buildings are obtained from local sources. However, homes and businesses were also often constructed with imported decorative entryway doors, tile floors, and fixtures.

4.4 Waste Disposal Although not identified as an area of research interest prior to field research, once we were in Socotra, our gaze turned to waste disposal. There is very little trash on the ground when traveling around the island—except in Hadibo which will be addressed below—so we became curious to know what was done with the trash since there was so little. We learned that now, as in the past, they burn most garbage. In one village, they reported filling the emptied large sacks that rice comes in with trash and burning it. Sadiya, who lives on the beach told us there was a burn pit about half an hour from where she lives. She indicated that she and her children collected the trash left behind by tourists, and then took it to the burn pit. In the mountains, Aisa told us that most tourists pick up their trash but if they do not, he or the guides will pick it up. The Egyptian vulture also serves as a source of waste disposal in that they will eat garbage, decaying vegetable and meat, small animals and birds, and feces. We inquired further about waste disposal by asking what happens to the sewage. We were told, both by locals in small villages and the Minister of Water and Environment, that the sewage goes into large holes dug in the ground and when it is full,

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they seal it; currently, they are sealed with cement. There were a couple of toilets around the island built specifically for tourists—we saw one on the beach, and one in the mountains. These toilets, like others in rural homes we saw/used, were squatter toilets with some source of water (e.g., a hose or 55-gallon drum of water with a pitcher) to flush waste from the toilet. The Minister of Water and the Environment showed us a map of Hadibo with a red dot indicating the location of every hole where sewage was collected from homes or businesses. They were described as similar to an outhouse except these had floors and squat toilets on top, but the waste went underground into private holes. The minister assured us it did not go into the ocean. While plans were available for sewage infrastructure, including sewage treatment, as he said, there was no money yet. The Minister explained to us that a study done by a European group resulted in extensive plans for water and sewage infrastructure. He showed us five or six large plastic bound volumes on his desk that were the plans for improving the infrastructure, but the money to implement the plans had not been received. He confirmed that new infrastructure development has resulted in a reservoir from which trucks filled up their tanks, and then those trucks delivered water to homes and businesses to fill their water tanks. There are also water reservoirs and water pumps that have been built around the island to provide access to clean water; at least one water pump we saw was solar powered. Prior to arrival on Socotra, waste disposal was not a topic we expected to examine; it had not been an issue identified in any of the first author’s previous research on indigenous practices for environmental sustainability. Unfortunately, what most visitors to Socotra will notice first is a sea of plastic trash that covers the city of Hadibo. The trash in Hadibo is similar to many other developing countries—there is no trash pickup and plastic covers the ground. A pasture near the airport had hundreds of plastic bags waving from the tall grasses that captured them. The roads and beaches in Hadibo were covered with trash, particularly plastic water bottles. Near the restaurant where we ate every day, there was a low area where the tide comes inland several hundred feet, again coated in trash. Knowing that the monsoon season was upon us, we could only imagine the massive amounts of trash being swept into the ocean each year. As we drove out of Hadibo, we saw two large trash dumpsters that had been previously mentioned by several participants. The dumpsters were overflowing with trash and surrounded by goats and vultures eating whatever was there. Goats seemed to be a means of garbage disposal, with few people recognizing that eating plastic would harm them. Prior to recent development, very little refuse was created; then and now, trash was/is often managed by burning. At some point since development, we were told that the UAE was taking trash from the island, but that this practice of international movement of trash is no longer allowed. We were also told that Yemen no longer has money to take the trash from Socotra. There is no recycling.

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5 Discussion We were able to observe and learn about some traditional practices that protected the island’s resources for centuries, perhaps millennia. Based on our research, and that of others (Abulhawa, 2015; Attorre & van Damme, 2020; Cheung & DeVantier, 2006; Elie, 2020a, 2020b; UNESCO, 2021; van Damme, 2022), it is clear that traditional rules and practices have maintained the human–environment balance that has resulted in environmental sustainability. Traditional practices, often enforced by local skeikhs, such as allowing only dead wood to be used for firewood and construction; rotational grazing to prevent land degradation; limiting fishing to certain times and only with nets that allowed smaller fish to escape; collection of rainwater, digging wells, and use of wadis for water; and protecting vegetation from livestock. The words of Tarek Abulhawa still ring true: “Living in harmony with nature was not a choice for the population of Socotra, it was a necessity” (2015, p. 18).

5.1 Water Fresh water is a scarce commodity across Yemen, and Socotra is no different. Water resources are needed not only for human consumption, but also for livestock, home gardens, and other cultivated plants. Fresh water is available on Socotra from underground aquafers, natural springs, streams/wadis, and rain. As we learned, traditionally, rainwater was collected in large cisterns with the hope that enough water was collected during the monsoon season to provide for the dry season. Rainwater could also be channeled into large, shallow depressions in the ground, often lined with stones, to collect and store water (van Rensburg & Hopper, 2016). Natural springs and dug wells were other sources of water; however, these sources were not always convenient to families. Streams/wadis brought surface water from the mountains and despite the likelihood of contamination, it might still be used for drinking if other sources were not available. Water was usually collected by women and girls who carried water from the source to the home, often several miles, as we saw only once while in Socotra. As noted by Sadiya, fresh water was used for drinking and cooking, while salty water could be used for cleaning. The water was protected because use was limited to the amount of water that could be carried or consumed by livestock. Today, much of the focus on infrastructure development is to provide clean accessible water for all inhabitants of the island, lifting the burden for women and girls who will no longer have to walk miles to carry water for the family’s use. A UN assessment conducted in 2015, following two devastating cyclones, indicated that the main sources of water on the island were “government or community water network (49%); unprotected open wells (39%); unprotected spring (33%); and traditional water sellers or water trucks (29%)” (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [UNHCR], 2015, p. 3). Several projects over the past decade have contributed to expanding access to clean water. In 2012, a project implemented by

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United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the Ma’la pastoral communities in western Socotra helped revitalize the traditional practice of collecting rainwater in cisterns by supporting the construction of 34 traditional cisterns, and teaching community members how to build more (Global Environment Facility [GEF], 2012). The collection of rainwater also provides water for livestock, reducing the need for animal migration to find water which protects thousands of hectares of land from erosion (GEF, 2012). Another project, funded by United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and the European Commission, helped supply the Salalah area with clean water for drinking (Dabinhei, 2020). This project installed solar panels and built a reservoir to collect water for distribution to approximately 400 people in the area (Dabinhei, 2020). They installed solar panels to fuel the pumps that distribute the water to all the families in the Salalah area through a network of black pipes (Dabinhei, 2020). A water pipe in the reservoir has been allocated for water truck tanks that transport water to nearby areas (Dabinhei, 2020). The accessibility of water has encouraged locals to plant home gardens and palm trees that provide vegetables not easily available previously (Dabinhei, 2020).

5.2 Food Based on our observations, fish are a main staple of the diet for those who live along the coast, including the city of Hadibo. For the communities we visited, small family and village gardens appear to be an important source of food, including vegetables, dates, and fruits. Goats were found on most parts of the island and it is clear they are a source of food. Imported foods were available in a wide array of stores in Hadibo, from vegetables and fruits to packaged foods. Below, we discuss fishing and small gardens as two traditional practices that are environmentally sustainable.

5.2.1

Fishing

The waters surrounding Socotra are rich with sea life including “283 species of coral, 730 species of coastal fish, and 300 species of crab, lobster, and shrimp” (Smithsonian, n.d., para 1). As an arid island, over one hundred miles from the nearest land, Socotrans had to rely on the resources available to them, and that included the bounty of the oceans for food. Traditionally, fishing was done in small wooden boats with fishing nets or lines. Some ocean resources are gathered by hand, such as sea cucumbers and sea urchins. To protect from overfishing, Socotrans’ traditional practices limited the size and amount of fish that could be caught and limited the type and size of nets. Van Damme reports similar practices, including traditional practices forbidding fishing for eight days after the full moon; controlling the use of fish traps to avoid putting too much pressure on a particular area or species; and forbidding the use of bait because it was seen as pollution (2022).

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Development has brought new fishing techniques and international markets that have resulted in overfishing and exploitation of marine resources. As noted by Sadiya, traditional practices that protected against overuse of resources are being ignored in some coastal areas to meet international demand for fish, sharks, sea cucumbers, lobsters, and other marine animals. In addition to changes in Socotran’s fishing practices, international illegal trawling has resulted in depletion of marine wildlife and damage to the coral reefs (IUCN, 2020). Unfortunately, the short-term gains will result in loss of income as marine resources are depleted.

5.2.2

Family and Village Gardens

Beyond date production, large scale agriculture does not seem to have been part of traditional practices on Socotra; most food is grown only for local consumption. Beyond fish and other marine food sources, meat from livestock, imported food, and small family or village gardens were—and continue to be—used to supplement the island’s food supply. Women are the traditional tenders of these small gardens, where plants for food, medicine, forage for livestock and shade are grown (Ceccolini, 2002). Based on our observations of family and village gardens, intercropping practices were used to provide shade for other crops, reduce demand for water and increase crop yield. One of the many international development projects happening in Socotra is the expansion of small family gardens. For example, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Program (SPG) funded training for the women of Socotra on growing vegetable gardens (2022). The women were taught to grow ten different kinds of vegetables, which will diversify their diet and hopefully increase their income (GEF SPG, 2022). GEF SGP funds were also used in another village to support development of several family gardens by creating a water network via a dug well with a solar-powered pump and providing material for fencing and training (2008).

5.3 Land Use There are many plants that are central to Socotran life and for which local practices ensure the continuation of the species. Socotra’s forests of Dragon’s Blood, frankincense, bottle trees and cucumber trees have been managed for centuries through “traditional resin harvesting, gathering of other non-timber forest products and the indirect impact of transhumance pastoralism” (University of British Columbia, 2022, para. 1). Extracting resins from Dragon’s Blood and Frankincense trees required knowledge and skill of how many, and how deep, to make cuts to ensure the plant did not bleed out and die. As noted by Aisa, traditionally, they only harvest annually or biannually to allow the trees to recover. Similar to collecting resins from trees, aloe is extracted by cutting the leaves and then allowing them to heal. Like some foods,

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aloe was stored in goatskins, with no extraction during times of drought. Dragon’s Blood, Frankincense and aloe are still harvested using traditional practices for use by locals, tourists and export. As the population grows, development expands, and tourism increases, many natural resources are no longer being used in a way that is sustainable. While the traditional use of local stones and sand for buildings continues, the increasing demand of these materials for construction is likely to negatively impact the natural habitat for many important species (Saraf, 2021). And, although many Socotrans now use cooking gas, when it is not available, they must use trees and shrubs (Saraf, 2021; van Damme, 2022). Traditional practices prohibiting the cutting of trees—only dead wood could be collected—may no longer be honored as these resources are depleted.

5.4 Waste Disposal Today, the plastics pollution cannot be overlooked by any who visits the island. As noted by The Economic Times plastic water bottles and bags clog up creeks near villages, and steady streams of tourists arrive on a weekly two-hour flight from Abu Dhabi….Balancing the protection of the environment with the needs of people for roads, healthcare, jobs and opportunities is a hard task. (2021, para. 37–39)

Indeed, the plastics pollution is widespread in Hadibo: the streets are covered with plastic water bottles and the beaches near the city cannot be seen through the trash. As visitors to the island, we decided to keep all non-organic trash we used during the two weeks of our visit (e.g., plastic bottles, bags, and straws; Styrofoam containers; soda and juice cans) and brought it home to recycle, knowing if we left it in Socotra as garbage, it would end up on the ground or eventually in the ocean. We were told by many locals that the trash problem exists because the government is no longer collecting the trash and we often responded by encouraging them to think about what they could do, and used to do, without government support. Very little could be found in the literature on traditional waste management practices in Socotra. As noted by people we interviewed, trash used to be collected and burned, a practice that continues. It has been noted that the Egyptian Vulture, which thrives on Socotra despite declining in other parts of the world, has long served as garbage disposal for organic waste on the island (McGrady, et al., 2019), something we frequently observed. In addition to the vulture, today goats eat a lot of garbage around the city of Hadibo, often to the detriment of the goat as it dies from ingesting plastics. The nature of trash on the island has changed and the traditional systems cannot process the plastics. During a lecture on Reducing, Recycling and Reusing at Socotra Archipelago University, we shared with students and faculty a portable water filtration system we had brought as an alternative to plastic water bottles. We noted that larger filtration systems could be used for both businesses and homes and encouraged them to ban

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plastic bottles and bags from the island—any tour company could provide filtered water and prohibit clients from bringing in plastics. The Socotrans very much value their island home and yet are caught between traditions and development. Unfortunately, the uniqueness of the island’s flora, fauna, and residents are the very factors that bring international tourists and increase the degradation of the very sites that brings them to the island (van Damme & Banfield, 2011).

5.5 Balancing Development and Environment There are projects on the island protecting the environment through traditional strategies while still accommodating tourists. For example, in the early 1990s, the residents of Sacra and Diherhom began “implementing strict rules on resource access based on traditional knowledge and …community-based natural resource management arrangements. Restrictions were placed on the use of …damaging and highimpact fishing equipment, closed (or ‘rest’) periods and seasonal no-take zones were introduced, bans were imposed on fishing vulnerable species, and traditional fishing technologies were promoted as an alternative to bottom nets” (UNDP, 2012, p. 5). The community built an eco-camp for tourists using local materials; the profits from and responsibilities for the camp are shared amongst the local residents. The camp is solar powered and water from the camp is used to irrigate a local forest (UNDP, 2012). Fishing has improved in areas outside the sanctuary, and the eco-camp brings in non-fishing income to support more conservation efforts (UNDP, 2012). The project was based on the traditional Socotran values of cohesion and cooperation. There are those who express great concern that development is changing Socotra for the benefit of foreign eco-tourism developers and conservation actors (Elie, 2020a). Elie claims that development is requiring Socotrans to adopt “an imported ecological consciousness and a restrictive protocol of human-environment relations… leading to the reengineering of Socotrans’ relationship with the island’s natural resources” (2020a, p. 57). Further, he expresses fears that much of the development is by outside business owners who are buying land at prices the locals cannot afford, to open hotels and tour companies where locals will work as low paid service sector employees, if foreign workers are not imported (Elie, 2020a). Fears have been sparked that “the island’s age-old equilibrium has been damaged” (Economic Times, 2021, para. 32). At the same time, development is providing safe water and sanitation, education, health care, and easier access to other resources. Many homes around the island now have access to clean water that is either pumped to their homes or delivered to their homes via water trucks that fill large plastic water tanks. In addition, development has brought schools and a hospital to Socotra. When we asked a group of school children in a fishing village what they wanted to be when they grew up, only one boy indicated he wanted to follow his family’s tradition as a fisherman; the others wanted to be doctors, teachers, translators, and tour guides. The current development is moving many locals away from their traditional bond with the land.

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6 Conclusion Indigenous and local people around the globe have learned how to meet their needs for water, food, energy and shelter without depleting the resources on which they depended. Many indigenous peoples do not see themselves as dominant over nature, but rather see themselves as one part of the eco-system. Western colonization was both occupying and extractive, pushing local people off their traditional lands and removing any resource of value (i.e., furs, trees, oil). The people of Socotra have survived for centuries using indigenous practices that made use of the available resources while limiting overuse so life could continue. While the specific practices may or not be transferable to other contexts, the philosophy of respecting and protecting the environment can. There is a tension between conservation of Socotra’s unique biodiversity; development for basic infrastructure (i.e., water, waste, energy); development for tourism; and local and indigenous people and practices. As the population, tourism and development increase, the delicate balance that has maintained the environment and locals for millennia, is threatened. This is, at least in part, because increased population and visitors require additional use of limited local resources (e.g., clean water, building materials and food). The trash problem around Hadibo is connected with imported products replacing products that can be more difficult to obtain through traditional practices, such as bottled water rather than water from a well. And, even though there was much talk of developing eco-tourism on the island, it is unclear if the current hotels being built are using sustainable practices, if eco-tourism will benefit the local Socotrans, or if eco-tourism will be sustainable. There are many benefits to the international development efforts. For example, access to clean water has improved the lives of the many residents who currently have access to it: women and girls no longer walk hours to obtain water, and illness from water borne diseases is reduced. The modern health care provided by the UAE through the Khalifa Foundation has reduced the need to travel abroad for care. A non-governmental organization on the island while we were there was providing cataract surgery for 500 residents, prioritizing children, then women. The miles of asphalt roads improve access to and distribution of resources, including water. Solar panels reduce the reliance on petroleum products and wood as sources of energy. Alternative sources of income, such as eco-tourism, can reduce overuse of natural resources and encourage protection of the unique environment that draws visitors. However, many of these developments also have a downside. Roads can split migration paths of local species. The road around the island provides access to remote areas that were previously not visited by tourists, potentially increasing pollution and degradation of natural resources. Tourism can put additional pressures on limited resources. Perhaps most important, though, is that development and the introduction of western consumerism is potentially separating the Socotran people from their intricate relationship with nature that has maintained the island’s unique culture and biodiversity.

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There are many eyes monitoring the environmental situation on Socotra. From the Yemeni government to various United Nations organizations to non-governmental organizations, many are concerned with protecting the unique biodiversity and culture of Socotra. Protection plans have already banned development on more than 3/4 s of the island. True conservation must be carried out by local communities. As noted by van Damme (2022): As long as the indigenous people of Socotra maintain a spiritual connection with their island’s natural resources, and they feel that there is a direct benefit from taking care of nature, then there is a strong chance that a large part of the enormous richness in heritage in the biosphere reserve may survive. (p. 77)

References Abulhawa, T. (2015). Socotra: Enduring bonds between people and place. World Heritage Review, 75, 16–21. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000233310 Aikenhead, G. S., & Ogawa, M. (2007). Indigenous knowledge and science revisited. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 2, 539–620. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-007-9067-8 Ajo Center for Sustainable Agriculture. (2022). About Us. https://www.ajocsa.com/about Alexander, S. M., Provencher, J. F., Henri, D. A., Nanayakkara, L., Taylor, J. T., Berberi, A., Lloren, J. A., Johnson, J. T., Ballard, M., & Cooke, S. J. (2021). Bridging indigenous and western sciences in freshwater research, monitoring, and management in Canada. Ecological Solutions and Evidence, 2(3). https://doi.org/10.1002/2688-8319.12085 Al-Okaishi, A. (2021). Exploring the historical distribution of Dracaena cinnabari using ethnobotanical knowledge on Socotra Island, Yemen. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 17(1), 22. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13002-021-00452-1 Altieri, M. A. (1999). The ecological role of biodiversity in agro-ecosystems. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 74(1–2), 19–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0167-8809(99)00028-6 Attorre, F., & van Damme, K. (2020). Twenty years of biodiversity research and nature conservation in the Socotra Archipelago (Yemen). Rendiconti Lincei, 31(3), 563–569. https://doi.org/10.1007/ s12210-020-00941-7 Barnett, J., & Campbell, J. (2010). Climate change and small island states: Power, knowledge and the South Pacific. Earthscan. Belles, X. (2021). A synopsis of the spider beetles (Coleoptera: Ptinidae) of Socotra, with the description of a new genus and two new species. Zoology in the Middle East, 67(2), 133–143. https://doi.org/10.1080/09397140.2021.1883623 Berkes, F. (2009). Indigenous ways of knowing and the study of environmental change. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 39(4), 151–156. https://doi.org/10.1080/030142209095 10568 Betigeri, A. (2020). How Australia’s indigenous experts could help deal with devastating wildfires. Times. https://time.com/5764521/australia-bushfires-indigenous-fire-practices/ Briggs, J. (2005). The use of indigenous knowledge in development: Problems and challenges. Progress in Development Studies, 5(2), 99–114. https://doi.org/10.1191/1464993405ps105oa Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. (2022). Socotra island, Yemen. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/place/Socotra Campbell, J. (2009). Islandness: Vulnerability and resilience in Oceania. Shima: The International Journal of Research into Island Cultures, 3(1), 85–97.

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Tastes of Socotra in New Media: What do we know About Socotri from Looking at Their (Digital) Plate? ˇ Danica Cigoja Piper

1 Introduction Great experience. Go till they haven’t opened McDonalds there. TripAdvisor review, 2022

The concept of digitizing different life experiences and gaining knowledge about the world through new media has made it possible for all of us to easily visit parts of the world that we have never set foot in, but which we can get to know in detail with just a few clicks. In that way, the digitalization of any experience gives us the opportunity to meet other cultures and to learn more about faraway places (Cigoja Piper, 2016). Socotra Island can be seen as a typical example of a place with a strong possibility for mainly digital travel and for encountering unfamiliar concepts over the screen. Why is the digitization of experiences so closely connected with Socotra, just one of the many islands in the world? The story of Socotra, known as “Island of the Bliss” (Naumkin, 1989), an archipelago consisting of four islands, is distinctive because it has the possibility to be a pearl of world tourism, but it is still only visited by daring people who are fond of exploring unusual places (Globotreks, 2022). Before the civil war in Yemen that started in 2011, Socotra had been an adventure tourist destination for no more than 4000 tourists per year (Van Damme and Banfield, 2011). Although only the mainland was affected by the war, Socotra was closed off from the world for more than half a decade (Intertia Network, 2020). In the last few years, this island has recovered and opened back up to potential visitors (The National, 2021). Despite the reopening, few people dare to travel there (Anna Everywhere, 2021). For the less brave, but curious, there is a way to meet Socotra—it is present in numerous digital stories, just a click away. ˇ D. Cigoja Piper (B) College of Interdisciplinary Studies, Zayed University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 N. Slak Valek and A. A. Zedan (eds.), A Social View of Socotra Island, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4358-6_3

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Enjoying Socotra over the screen eases the process of familiarizing people with the island’s main characteristics. The contents that internet users publish on various platforms are thematically diverse, and according to their form, they are divided into photos, text and video materials. The special attention of users is drawn to visual and audiovisual content. “Everything that causes visual pleasure in the viewer (painting, photography, sculpture, film) becomes an open space of transformation and exchange of meaning between the visual object and the viewer” (Sibinovic, 2013). Among the popular digital visual content, food photos often stand out. Although food in everyday life has a role in satisfying hunger, through the media, it takes on multiple roles. Posting photos of scenes related to the process of preparation of ingredients and cooking food, images of carefully arranged and decorated dishes, and photos of food placed on a suitable background became a daily practice of internet users (Cigoja Piper, 2016). Media representations of food help us to take a look at Socotra’s digital plate and examine how those representations are constructed with the specific goal of explaining what those contents tell us about Socotri.

2 Theoretical Framework The expansion of digital media has led to the popularity of a new form of communication between people—digitally processed communication of individuals and groups through computers, smartphones and other devices that enable communication over the internet. Recent global research shows that 64,4% of people around the world actively use the internet with 6 h and 37 min of average daily usage (Meltwater, 2023). That usage is moving away from personal conversation toward various modes of organized communication. According to theorist Pierre Lévy, the digitalization of our environment is an opportunity for the transformation of mind and body (Lévy, 2001). For Lévy, digitalization is probably the last step in human evolution, and it might be a base for further evolution. Seen from this point of view, new media and social networks can be understood as specific digital spaces necessary for building the person of the future—the future that is already here, which we live in (Cigoja Piper, 2016). Through the process of sharing texts, photos, and video materials on blogs, specialized websites, and social media profiles, internet users reveal part of their everyday life, their interests and finally part of their identity, which, through online activities, is being confirmed and transformed. Changes in identity occur throughout various digital provocations, that is, across influences that come from different sources in the digital environment. These changes are most often reflected in the provocation of the digital environment to achieve the greatest possible recognition of a certain person on the Web and thus to confirm the importance of that person in society—in the profession he or she is engaged in, or in his or her private life. In this way, theories that advocate emphasizing the multitude of identities (Burke, 2003), rather than identities in a single phenomenon, are also confirmed. According to the concept of multiple identities, we can recognize at least three different bases of identity (Burke, 2003):

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social (belonging to certain groups), role (main social role), and personal (dominant personal characteristics). Traditionally, family was considered the source for nurturing most of the “roots of identity” (Kiecolt & LoMascolo, 2003), and our identities were developed mainly in that setting. With the rise of the digital environment, we can often witness how new media share a significant role in shaping our understanding of identity with family and other conventional cultural identity sources. The way we see ourselves and others in contemporary society is mainly influenced by media content. Understanding others, and indirectly, ourselves, through media representation is the central identity-related question used in this research—how do we see Socotri after a digital encounter with their cuisine? What can we learn about Socotri and about ourselves when we observe that kind of media content? Based on the concept of representation that reality does not have any fixed or given meaning (Hall, 2003), we can say that contents about food do not have meaning per se, but the meaning is built upon publishing content on the internet and after reception by the viewer. Each new viewer and every reaction of the viewer gives a new meaning to the unique content. Meaning is built upon the experience of the content creator, being, at the same time, attached to the preferred reading of the content author and the reference frame of the audience (Hall, 1980). Therefore, a certain image or video of Socotra’s typical food is represented not only as an image of an authentic experience from Socotra but also as a need of every internet user to ensure the possibility of experiencing something that is (for most) only digitally available. That might be understood as a multiple role representation of a specific media content—various representations and interpretations are building meanings that are becoming part of the virtual world and then indirectly part of the analog world. Understanding identity embedded in that content must be processed through the contextualization of experience. This means that the meaning of the content and media representation are strongly related to the way the given content will be interpreted from the specific audience. If there is wider knowledge about the context related to Socotra, one can have a more reliable mental image about Socotri than someone who is encountering Socotra-related content for the first time. According to Marina Grzinic, stepping into the virtual world means enabling “the ability to project and discover alternative composition of markings with which one can reconfigure and, above all, articulate the relationship to the world and different forms of representation and interpretation. In unusual representations of the cyber world of human the spirit finds only itself outside.” (Grzinic, 1998, 221).

3 Research Method A very welcome picnic in the shade of a beautiful Dracena cinnabari. During the day, a breakfast was scheduled in the morning, lunch in mid-day and dinner in the evening. Travel Tour Guide, 2014

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This study consisted of two phases, and both were exploratory. The first phase included data exploration and collection, and the second phase was oriented to specific data investigation. During the first phase of research, data were collected from the Web by searching relevant content for the analysis. This phase included collecting (1) blog content related to food at Socotra published during five consecutive years, from October 2017 to October 2022, (2) specialized website TripAdvisor reviews, and (3) video content about Socotra’s food published on YouTube. The following keywords and phrases were used to identify relevant blogs: “blogs Socotra”, “Socotra food”, “traveling Socotra” and “diary Socotra”. All blogs sampled in this way were reviewed according to additional criteria: “relevant posts are written based on personal experience during traveling to Socotra”, “relevant posts are published on blogs with a strong editorial background” and “relevant posts are describing the cuisine of Socotra”. Following this process, 10 blogs with Socotrarelated posts were chosen for further analysis. By searching Socotra-related content on TripAdvisor published in the same time frame as the blog samples, 125 comments fit into the following categorizations: “personal travel experience” and “mentioning food-related impressions”. Applicable video clips from YouTube were sampled by using the keywords and phrases “Socotra food” and “traveling Socotra”. After this inquiry, 10 videos were selected for analysis. The second phase of the research included qualitative content analysis. During the first step of this phase, the data were read or watched several times to “obtain the sense of the whole” (Bengtsson, 2016, p11) to extract smaller topic-related units of the text, photo or video. The second step involved data interpretation and compilation of results. Analysis was organized through the following categories: (1) linguistic approach—words used to describe food and island practices linked to food were analyzed and related to the context of the content; (2) visual contextualization— images were analyzed from the perspective of comparing the text and the photo that is used as illustration; and (3) video content investigation—narratives of sampled videos were described and analyzed from the context-related perspective.

4 Analysis of Findings Analyzed contents are typically related to travel stories from Socotra, or they are made in the form of a list of tips for future travelers. Those blogs posts, reviews and videos represent Socotra as a unique place to visit, with preserved nature and great opportunities for adventure. Most of the authors describe this island as an unspoiled paradise, one of the most beautiful islands in the world, weird and mysterious, a rare, almost alien place on Earth, and a place that must be visited. According to the analyzed digital representations of Socotra, this island is often seen as a destination for adventure and ecotourism. Many bloggers and vloggers who have visited the island write about their experiences hiking through the island’s rugged terrain and exploring its diverse ecosystems, as well as the island’s history and culture. Some also share their observations of the island’s unique plant and animal life, such as the

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dragon’s blood tree, a species of tree native to the island. Additionally, many people write about the island’s stunning beaches, crystal-clear waters and the activities that can be done there, such as snorkeling and swimming. Overall, Socotra Island is often portrayed as a remote and beautiful destination that offers visitors the opportunity to experience unique natural and cultural wonders. Among these impressions, visitors usually reflect on the tastes of Socotra: “Local restaurants serve simple meals with plain or spiced (cinnamon, cloves, cardamom) rice and flat Arabian bread, fish and vegetable sauce (potatoes, carrots, onion, garlic, beans and tomatoes) as staple products. Goat, chicken meat and eggs can be found in many restaurants, but since fresh fish and seafood are available every day, they are highly recommended, especially grilled and curry flavoured kingfish and tuna or boiled lobster. All meals served are hot, straight from oven or pan to the table.” (Socotra Advisor, 2022). In Yemen and Socotra, as island territories, the usual eating habits are oriented to three meals per day (Every Culture, 2022). According to the bloggers, those meals are consumed at home and consist of traditional ingredients such as dates, eggs, vegetables, fish, meat, fenugreek, sorghum, and a lot of sweet strong tea (Ibid, 2022). Some of the bloggers and other travelers also described Socotran practices during food consumption, and those contents show that the usual way of serving food is based on the traditional Arab idea of sharing food from one plate and eating mainly with the hands: “Socotrians serve only a communal plate that they put on the floor in the center of the room, and they all eat with their hands from that one plate” (Globotreks, 2022) (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1 Typical Arabic eating ritual in Socotra

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By examining the textual description of meals and food items available in Socotra, one can learn that the most common word in those media contents is “fresh”. While browsing the internet for details related to Socotra, you cannot miss the following information: “your visit to Socotra will include plenty of fresh food” (Very Hungry Nomads, 2022). Visitors mention many times that all meals are “sea-fresh” and made with a few local ingredients imported from the mainland (Fig. 2): All meals were prepared at the camp on fires, and we mostly opted for freshly caught fish, straight from the ocean and sometimes even self-caught. Lobster, shellfish, crabs, sea urchins—also made for some delicious local delicacies (The Travel hub, 2019). Every night we sat all together around the fire. Fresh fish, salad and fruit every day, with rice or pasta (TripAdvisor review 1, 2020). We also had amazing chefs, and we enjoyed fresh cooked food and seafood and seafood and more amazing seafood (TripAdvisor review 2, 2020). The cooks were amazing! All the meals were delicious, especially the seafood, which was very fresh! We were never once hungry; on the contrary we were always too full! (TripAdvisor review 3, 2022). Each and every meal was fresh, plentiful and delicious (especially the catch of the day) (TripAdvisor review 4, 2022). Second of all, the food. Plentiful and delicious. We even had the Lobster night with giant lobsters served for every group member. We had real brewed coffee while camping! I will not mention everything we had, just saying that the dining scene was terrific (TripAdvisor review 5, 2022).

Digital travel diaries about Socotra also indicate that inhabitants of this island have a modest relationship with food by explaining that “their cuisine is limited and simple” (Today Tourism, 2020), which is justified by the fact that Socotra is a remote island mostly oriented to basic accessible and affordable components. This is easily observed in descriptions such as “a lot of very fresh grilled fish” (TripAdvisor review 6, 2020), “local restaurants often serve fresh fish, chicken, goat, rice, and potatoes” (Today Tourism, 2020) or “I’ve never enjoyed so much fresh, incredible seafood” (TripAdvisor review 7, 2020). However, there are also texts that indicate the abundance of fruits, honey, and tea (Fig. 3): Maybe most important was that there was ALWAYS tea available when we were at camp. In a week, I probably had thirty cups (TripAdvisor review 8, 2021). There were always fresh oranges, apples, dates to munch on between meals, and let’s not forget about the endless amount of tea (Very Hungry Nomads, 2022). The food was simply amazing (go for the Socotri honey! ) (TripAdvisor review 9, 2022). At all times, there will be a thermos of tea, loaded with sugar, ready to consume. Tea is basically life in Socotra. The people of Socotra are very friendly and you will certainly enjoy a cup or two of tea with the locals (Street Food Guy, 2022). But before leaving my dream destination I had to leave with something to take home. I opted for a jar of local Socotri honey in addition to the frankincense and dragon blood varnish that I bought up in Homhil (The Adventures of Nicole, 2017). If you can imagine yourself sitting with a hot cup of tea staring out at crashing waves over a pristine beach with the sun setting for the evening—you’ll love Socotra. At all times, you’ll

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Fig. 2 TripAdvisor review about Socotra mentioning food

Fig. 3 Socotran tea served in typical Arabic setting

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find a hot thermos of prepared tea, loaded with sugar, ready to consume. Tea is life here. As our guide said, it is not possible to visit a Socotran home without being offered at least a few cups of tea (Very Hungry Nomads, 2022).

One of the most popular blogs that has posts related to Socotra’s experience and cuisine is a blog called “Socotra Expeditions” with the subtitle “The Island of Dreams, Socotra, Yemen”. This blogger presents Socotra’s cuisine through different items and meals that are usually a part of the island’s daily meals: (1) “Marah— a Yemeni lamb broth soup: always served at the beginning of the meal. It comes with a slice of lemon to squeeze into the soup.“ (Socotra Expedition, sample number 1) (2) “Mandi is usually made from meat (lamb or chicken), basmati rice, and a mixture of spices. The meat used is usually a young and small-sized lamb to enhance the taste further. The main thing that differentiates mandi is that the meat is cooked in the tandoor (taboon in Yemeni), which is a special kind of oven. The tandoor is usually a hole dug in the ground and covered inside by clay. To cook mandi, dry wood is placed in the tandoor and burned to generate a large amount of heat that turns into charcoal. Then, the meat is suspended inside the tandoor without touching the charcoal. After that, the whole tandoor is closed without letting any of the smoke go outside. Raisins and pine nuts can be added to the rice as per one’s taste. Mandi is also considered the main dish served in special events such as weddings and feasts.” (Socotra Expedition, sample number 2) (3) “Hanid is made with lamb or chicken in a tandoor (clay oven filled with hot coals).” (Socotra Expedition, sample number 3) (4) “Zerbian is a lamb dish made distinctly with the most expensive spice in the world, saffron. The rice, lamb, and spices are all cooked simultaneously in the pot together, unlike mandi, where the rice and meat are cooked separately. It is usually served at special occasions, such as weddings.“ (Socotra Expedition, sample number 4) (5) “Sabayah is made out of many layers of pastry with butter in between each layer and Yemeni honey and black sesame seeds on top.” (Socotra Expedition, sample number 5) After examining the most popular digital content related to Socotra’s cuisine, it is observed that the creators of those posts, and, in some cases, their interlocutors, represent Socotra’s food and habits related to food with a strong personal background related to Socotra and with the specific goal of preparing other possible travelers for their first visit to Socotra. On the other hand, visual and audiovisual content have a less significant advising role, and they are more of a source of spectacle and fun through media. As Debor

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would say, a photo of food has a role to be seen (Debord, 2002). It can also be added that in digital media, it has an additional role—to entertain. The food photo, as a scene that is the subject of our view, can awaken the hunger of users of the digital environment and cause them to question their satiety. The photo that we look at can amaze us, delight us, shock us, or entertain us. Accordingly, photography of any meal from Socotra, just as any meal from any other part of the world that we never set foot in, can become the extension of that particular place. It becomes a mediated experience, and as an extension, it offers us a close digital experience. This experience gives us an opportunity to become familiarized with a place that is so far away from us and with the specific food habits of the inhabitants. These digital bites are becoming as real, or even more real, than actual bites of food we enjoy every day. Audiovisual content about Socotra is available mostly on YouTube. On that wellknown platform, only a few channels display movies and short clips, so-called vlogs, about their own experience related to Socotra. Among other topics related to this island, these contents represent an important source of information about the diet and cuisine of Socotra. Eva zu Beck, popular travel vlogger (YouTube channel @EvazuBeckOfficial in December 2022, with 1.62 million followers), published a video named “What We Eat on a Remote Island” on her channel during 2020, just after the COVID pandemic started. After a year, this video had more than 125,000 views. In this clip, she explains the usual way of cooking freshly caught fish. The five-minute video explains all steps in the chosen cooking process—from cleaning the fish to serving the dish. All the colorful scenes are shot outside, in an old Socotra stone house, which is part of the camp on the beach. During the video, one can see many details: preparing gas for the improvised stove, cooking tea, cleaning and washing fresh fish, cutting the cleaned fish, and preparing a sauce from garlic, onion, and tomato. After the cooking scenes, there are a few short shots of campers that have gathered to eat the prepared meal and enjoy time together. This video has more than four hundred comments thus far, and most of them are evidence of the influence that these kinds of content have on audiences. Among the comments, it is possible to read the impressions of viewers related to the personality of the vlogger and her cooking skills, comments related to Socotra and the representation of food in the video. Most of the comments can be represented through one chosen comment: “That looks yummy! I would definitely eat it! I’m glad you’re having a good life there and are sharing the lives of those wonderful people as well” (EvazuBeckOfficial, 2020). Examining comments given upon watching the video (or its sequences) gave us wider insight into the role of audiovisual media content in learning about and understanding remote destinations and other cultures. The video titled “We Cooked a Big fish in Socotra Island” shows close-up shots of different meals at the table in the camp. The shots are filled with colorful food and details of each of the meals on the table (a big red fish on the plate, a few plates filled with rice, a few bowls with salads). During those shots, we can see the process of eating with one’s hands from a shared plate. The same author has published a short clip with shots of meat and rice at the table in one home in Socotra. At the end of the video, there are shots of tea drinking moments with a few popular soda drinks

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present on the table. Unlike the previous audiovisual example, this video has only two comments from viewers, and the content of those comments is not relevant for further analysis. In the video “Incredible Socotra”, the viewer can observe the images of seafood and the life of fishermen, including images of sea, mountains, trees, animals, and island habitants. The other video that represents Socotra through the prism of seafood is named “Day 8 Socotra—fish market”, and it is made from shots taken at the small fish market on the island. The shots are filled with images of freshly caught fish and many sellers who are moving the fish from one box to another. One of the well-known British travel reporters Simon Calder (Simon Calder, 2022), known by the nickname Calder Travel, represents his experience during his visit to Socotra in the video “Socotra: The undiscovered gem of the Indian Ocean”, published during spring 2020. Calder describes the food habits of Socotra through the words “lunch on the run” (Calder Travel, 2020). He shows images of typical Arabic “largely flat bread (“khubz”) delicious and warm” (Ibid, 2020) served in Socotra’s modest street food places in the City of Hadibo, Capital of the Island of Socotra. The author continues to explain that eating street food in Socotra is a quite different experience than eating a meal prepared in one of the globally popular fastfood chains. He explains that Socotra, like all of Yemen, is a completely “fast-food free zone” and that the usual menu consists of the following: “beans, fish, chicken and goats with a lot of tea, partly because there is no alcohol” (Ibid, 2020). At the beginning of the video named “Socotra 2015 Lunch time”, a few residents of this island explained how they usually prepare food. The video starts with 30-s shots of baby goats running through the meadow. After that, the viewer can watch seven minutes of slaughtering, beating and butchering these animals. The video ends with these scenes without any comments from the author or including any scenes of the food preparation process. We cannot escape from the following question: what would be the feeling of the viewer after this digital experience if this were the first video about Socotra that were seen by that person? In the video titled “I traveled to one of the world’s remotest islands—Getting to Socotra” edited by the vlogger Grace on Tour and published during winter 2022, we can observe a few interesting shots that represent the usual ways of serving and consuming food on this island. In the same period, one author published the video called “Socotra Island, Yemen” with a few long shots of people sitting at the long table and consuming various local dishes. The video titled “SOCOTRA ISLAND— A 7-day adventure in the most wonderful island on Earth!” published during spring 2022 represents vivid shots of the fish market in Hadibo, the process of cleaning and cutting the fish, a moment of selling Dragon tree red raisins, and an evening gathering with local food and traditional music. In the short clip named “SOCOTRA—Island in Yemen”, it is easy to recognize that it was made as a quick recapitulation of traveling through Socotra with just a few basic shots related to food consumption on the island. Those shots cover food consumption in one of the camps during the night. The described videos are different in their content, but they all attract attention and represent an introduction to some new experiences for viewers. They introduce us to a space that does not require touch or a sense of taste but calls upon our sense of

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sight and sense of sound. Those audio-visual materials put us in the position of active learners—we watch specific food-related scenes, and we can build our own vision of that experience even if we have not been near Socotra. We might say that these videos are true spectacles for our eyes and minds and that their frames are built upon the pillars of media spectacle. They are a typical example of mediatized experiences that give us the opportunity to visit places virtually and enjoy them fully, no matter that the knowledge about the specific place is not built upon a real experience but upon the consumption of various media representations.

5 Discussion and Conclusion The proposed location for the lodge overlooks a wide beach from which fishing boats regularly set out in search of tuna, trevally, kingfish, barracuda, marlin, wahoo and lobster. (…) Noah shares some wild honey collected from a nearby cave. Dark but not viscous, it packs an acidic punch. Locals drink a shot every day for their health. (…) As we sit, a steaming cauldron of beans and circles of fresh bread arrive at the table. (The Wall Street Journal, 2022)

The digital representation of Socotra through text, visual and audiovisual content is formed around messages about the uniqueness of this island that is presented through the images and descriptions of beautiful beaches, endemic flora and fauna, daily life habits and specific food as inseparable parts of the Socotra experience. That practice of representation is mostly based on the frame of particularity to keep the constructed image of Socotra as an inimitable place in the world. This frame implies that one must be delighted with Socotra after one meets it (in the analog or digital world) and must see it primarily as a unique place on Earth. Examining the digital representation of food on the island of Socotra gave us an impression of the mentioned peculiarities of the island and showed us the basic dietary experience of tourists on the island. One can ask how credible this representation is if we want to find out more about Socotri by looking at these food-related contents. Certainly, we cannot claim that we know about Socotri by reading or watching content related to travel stories about their island and food someone tried during the visit because, as it was pointed out, these stories present food from the perspective of visitors, not natives on the island. Through digital insight into Socotra’s food offerings, it is possible to recognize the presence of self-sustainability, which is a concept that has disappeared in most global communities (Hawkes, 2007). Because of their geographical position and historical and political context, Socotra can be understood as a place where food is a part of the struggle for survival. Even by observing the menu for tourists, it is easy to notice that the Socotri diet is based on unvaried meals. However, for travelers used to contemporary food offerings, this can be a unique gastronomic experience. In tourist spots, there is always plenty of fresh fish, food is prepared in nature over an open flame and there are a lot of offers of activities related to food (ex. eating fruits during breaks between walks and island tours).

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From the other angle, by studying this content, it is possible make certain main conclusions regarding the identity of people of Socotra: (1) they are underprivileged when it comes to variety in their foods (according to bloggers, Socotri use only a few ingredients in all their meals—rice, bread, fish, dates—most of the meat, fruits and vegetables come from the coast, so they are not accessible all the time and to all people); (2) they are kind hosts (all bloggers mentioned the great hospitality of Socotri and, in the context of food, most of the bloggers highlighted the role of Socotri as generous hosts) and (3) they are tradition-oriented (a few bloggers made a note about customs related to food preparation and consumption and it was noticeable that Socotri treasure traditional Arabian values and practices related to food: eating while seated on the floor, using one plate as a serving plate for the group of people, drinking tea often with specific attention to that practice). The findings presented in this research can be used for developing various investigations of Socotra’s cuisine. This research opens the question of Socotri’s relation to food, from ethnographical, anthropological or psychological perspectives to nutrition and economic aspects. Some researchers might be inspired to investigate the opinions and attitudes of Socotri toward food. Others might use this content to analyze the motivation of visitors regarding food and their expectations before traveling or during their stay. There is also a space for examining the nutritional aspects of the Socotri diet, perhaps correlating them with their health status. Economical insights can help to discover different strategies that can help develop tourism on the island because this research underlines important data related to Socotri food that can be used for future strategies in the promotion of tourism. Taking this particular imperfection and using it to promote new experiences is something that can be used as a comparative advantage in the case of Socotra. Tourists experience affect tourism perception which people remember as a destination brand (Slak Valek, 2020). As an experience, we see in reviewes most of the visitors mentioned that fresh fish was available daily on the island. For most travelers coming from busy cities, fresh fish is expensive, something that belongs to special moments and important occasions. Socotra provides this experience in a leisurely way, without luxurious presumptions. The key words fresh fish in the menu can open a path for promoting Socotra as a food destination, among all other well-known characteristics of this unique place. Finally, except from the research point of view, more trustworthy sources that will offer additional information about Socotri cuisine are needed, which can be an asset to future blogs, news, and social media content about the food of Socotra.

References Bengtsson, M. (2016). How to plan and perform a qualitative study using content analysis. NursingPlus Open, 2, 8–14. Elsevier BV. Burke, P. (2003). Relationship among multiple identities. In P. J.Burke, et al. (Eds.), Advances in identity theory and research (pp. 195–214). Plenum Publishers. Cigoja Piper, D. (2016). Digitalni zalogaji: Hrana kao spektakl na društvenim mrežama [Digital bites: Food as spectacle on social networks], AM Journal of Art and Media Studies, 11, 163–170.

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Debord, G. (2002). Society of the spectacle. Black & Red. Grzinic, M. (1998). U redu za virtualni kruh [In line for digital bread]. Meandar. Hall, S. (1980). Encoding—Decoding. In S. Hall, D. Hobson, A. Lowe, & Willis, P. (Eds.) Culture, media, language. Hutchinson. Hall, S. (2003). Representation: Cultural representations and signifying practices. SAGE. Hawkes, C. (2007). Globalization and the nutrition transition. In: P. Pinstrup-Andersen, & F. Cheng (Eds.), Food policy for developing countries: Case studies (pp. 16). Cornell University. Kiecolt, K. J., & LoMascolo, F. A. (2003). Roots of identity. In P. J. Burke et al. (Eds.), Advances in identity theory and research (pp. 27–40). Plenum Publishers. Lévy, P. (2001). Cyberculture. University Of Minnesota Press. Naumkin, V. (1989). Fieldwork in Socotra. British Society for Middle Eastern Studies, 16(2), 133–142. Sibinovi´c, J. (2013). Enjoying the view. AM Journal of Art and Media Studies, 4, 64–68. Slak Valek, N. (2020). Drawing a destination logo from memory and its influence on the destination perception. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 16, 100436. Van Damme, K., & Banfield, L. (2011). Past and present human impacts on the biodiversity of Socotra Island (Yemen): Implications for future conservation. Zoology in the Middle East, 54(sup3), 31–88 Visit: https://adventuresoflilnicki.com/10-days-socotra-yemen/. Date of last access: October 31, 2022. Visit: https://www.britannica.com/place/Socotra. Date of last access: August 30, 2022. Visit: https://www.globotreks.com/destinations/yemen/traveling-socotra-island/. Date of last access: August 30, 2022. Visit: https://www.veryhungrynomads.com/what-its-really-like-to-visit-socotra/. Date of last access: August 30, 2022. Visit: https://thetravelhub.com/review/explore-socotra-1623152160. Date of last access: August 30, 2022. Visit: https://socotradvisor.com/food/. Date of last access: August 30, 2022. Visit: https://www.everyculture.com/To-Z/Yemen.html#ixzz7gLTDMbKQ. Date of last access: September 15, 2022. Visit: https://www.inertianetwork.com/magazine/socotra-ecological-paradise-in-the-crosshairs-ofconflict. Date of last access: November 20, 2022. Visit: https://onestep4ward.com/socotra-yemen-avatar-meets-jurassic-park/. Date of last access: September 15, 2022. Visit: https://adventuresoflilnicki.com/10-days-socotra-yemen/. Date of last access: November 20, 2022. Visit: https://www.bradtguides.com/impressions-of-socotra-a-photo-story/. Date of last access: September 15, 2022. Visit: https://www.streetfoodguy.com/food-in-socotra/. Date of last access: September 20, 2022. Visit: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g1420957-d20833022-r758123370-Wel comeToSocotra-Socotra_Island.html. Date of last access: September 20, 2022. Visit: https://monsoondiaries.com/2019s/11/19/socotra/. Date of last access: October 25, 2022. Visit: https://nasseralyafei.wordpress.com/delicious-food/. Date of last access: September 26, 2022. Visit: https://simoncalder.co.uk/biography/. Date of last access: November 28, 2022. Visit: https://www.travel-tour-guide.com/trip_to_socotra_in_yemen/12_what_to_expect_from_a_ tour_to_socotra.htm. Date of last access: September 30, 2022. Visit: https://www.thenationalnews.com/gulf-news/yemen-s-island-paradise-of-socotra-a-havenfor-ecotourists-in-pictures-1.1189737. Date of last access: October 31, 2022.

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Visit: https://www.wsj.com/articles/socotra-yemen-coast-traditional-culture-fragile-ecosystem-iso lation-future-11664037011. Date of last access: September 30, 2022. Visit: https://www.meltwater.com/en/global-digital-trends. Date of last access: January 15, 2023. Visit: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDTINI9skkeZNY2ZXnBqIkQ. Date of last access: January 15, 2023. Visit: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClNmcnX658vqbJjUe1OE3Qg. Date of last access: January 15, 2023.

Past, Present, and the Future of the Maritime Socotra: Sustainable Fishing Tourism Perspectives Federica Letizia Cavallo and Giovanna Di Matteo

1 Introduction The Socotra Archipelago is of universal importance because of its biodiversity and rich flora and fauna (UNESCO WHC, 2017; Zanetti, 2022). It has also undergone a geologically interesting evolution; indeed, it has continental origins (Whitehouse et al., 2008) and lies between three biogeographic regions: the African, Oriental, and Palearctic. Environmental protection projects on the island started at the end of the 1990s; and over the following decade it became an internationally recognised protected area, becoming a UNESCO heritage site in 2008 (Claudino-Sales, 2019). Moreover, in 1996 the Marine Protected Area of the island was established as a national MPA, then added to the PERSGA Regional MPA Network (2000), UNESCO Man and Biosphere Reserve (2002), and finally in the Natural World Heritage Site List (2008). The area is significant for marine habitats, such as mangroves, corals and nesting sites for marine turtles (Cheung & DeVantier, 2006). The MPA consists of four different zoning categories: Resource Use Reserve, National Park, Nature Sanctuary, and General Use Zone (Al-Agwan, 2015). However, Socotra “stands out not only for its unique biotic species but also for its indigenous inhabitants’ endangered language (Soqotri) and distinctive culture” (Peutz, 2018, p. 4). Indeed, the prominence in the western collective imagination The authors entirely share responsibility for the contents of the paper. The article is the result of work carried out by both authors and shared reflections; both authors have fully concurred with the findings. However, for what concerns the layout of the text, Sects. 1 and 2 are by Federica L. Cavallo and Sects. 3, 4, and 5 are by Giovanna Di Matteo. Section 6 is curated by both. F. L. Cavallo Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Venice, Italy e-mail: [email protected] G. Di Matteo (B) University of Padua, Padua, Italy e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 N. Slak Valek and A. A. Zedan (eds.), A Social View of Socotra Island, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4358-6_4

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of the inner Socotra, with its unique endemic vegetation, hindered the centuries-old culture and in particular the exploitation of the biodiverse resources of the Gulf of Aden and Arabic Sea by small fishing communities. Fishing in Socotra has traditionally been an activity with limited profitability, historically practiced by the poorest and socially marginal part of the population (Morris, 2013). Nowadays, despite the importance retained by this activity—which has become more profitable than in the past to the point of attracting Bedouins from the inner island for seasonal fishing—, the impact of increasingly frequent sea storms and hurricanes (connected to climate change), the challenging geopolitical situation and the ongoing Yemen Civil war, as well as the consequent increasing costs of living and maintenance of the fisheries activity all contribute to aggravating the fishing communities’ situation. Our contribution focuses on Socotra’s traditional fishing from the perspective of human geography—considering its constraints and opportunities. Firstly, we will focus on traditional fishing techniques and cultures, individuating local communities where we can investigate the state of the art concerning traditional boats, fishing tools and related construction techniques, as well as boat shelters and fishing villages such as Qalansiyah or Mah.firihi (Fig. 1). Secondly, we will consider the fishing tourism sector, carrying out interviews on the existing fishing tourism offers (seasonality, operators, activities, tourist targets, …). The third goal of our research consists of understanding if and how traditional and community-based fishing tourism could be implemented on the island. Indeed, even though Socotra is still hardly accessible, the number of tourists has been increasing. Therefore, sustainable fishing tourism could be a source of extra income for fishermen, and, at the same time, it could incentivize sustainable tourism development.

Fig. 1 Map of Socotra Island. Highlighted the capital Hadiboh and the fishermen villages where interviews were conducted. Source authors work on OSM base

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Specifically, we want to explore the possibilities of developing community-based forms of fishing tourism (considering traditional techniques, vessels, instruments, and shelters), evaluating the involvement of fishing cooperatives and assessing the main obstacles to such development. To do so, we would investigate the functioning of the cooperatives and their role in the fishing communities. This third phase will include interviews with stakeholders: fishermen who are part of the cooperatives and leaders of fishing villages, tourism authorities and Environmental Protection Authority representatives. As a final introductory note, it must be underlined that island inhabitants have their own traditional way to protect their ecosystem, for example imposing bans and establishing harvesting rules (see Sect. 4), which are based on communitylevel enforcement (Peutz, 2018). This will be further discussed also in the tourism management at the local level.

2 Traditional Fishing The Socotra Archipelago is home to the highest coastal fish diversity in the northwestern Indian Ocean and is characterised by particularly heterogeneous and rich marine ecosystems where tropical and pseudo-temperate conditions co-exist (Zajonz et al., 2022). This peculiar context makes it possible for reef fish species to live together within unique coastal and coral-associated fish assemblages, associated with a diversity of coral and non-coral dominated biotopes. Moreover, the fish biomass productivity of Socotra’s coastal waters is among the most productive sites in the entire Indian Ocean; thus, presenting the ecological basis for productive fisheries (Zajonz et al., 2016). This is due also to the peculiar conditions of strong marine currents which upwell many nutrients for fishes, as well as to the seasonality connected to the monsoon period (Scholte & De Geest, 2010), which also plays a very important role in the marine ecosystem (Hariri et al., 2002; Van Rensburg, 2012; Zajonz et al., 2016). As already mentioned, one of the main economic activities on the island is fishing; which takes place at the small-scale and at the industrial-scale in order to supply both domestic consumption and commercial demand. According to Zajonz et al. (2016) “the industrial scale-fishery includes long-liners, midwater and (few) demersal trawlers, and gill-netters that target the islands during the summer monsoon, regardless of the 12 nm conservation buffer zone and a 5 nm non-trawling zone. No industrial fisher is based on Socotra though” (p. 668). For what concerns this work we will focus on the fishermen operating from the coastal villages. Besides the capital Hadiboh and the other main town Qalansiyah, fishing villages sprawl along the coast in groups of houses, each hosting from one to three or four families. Villages we visited counted from about 10 to more than a hundred houses. Generally, fishers would also own goats, and some small home gardens. As men were

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mostly fishermen—and some worked part-time as soldiers as well—women would be the house keepers, but also took care of the livestock and gardens. Concerning the specimen targeted, Zajonz et al. (2016) report that the main one is pelagic fish such as kingfish, yellow fin tuna, rainbow runner, dolphin-fish, island bonito and long-tail tuna, sailfishes, marlins and other types of tunas. Moreover, they fish sharks such as silvertip shark, spot-tail shark and scalloped hammerhead, shortfin mako, blacktip reef shark, tiger shark, and human’s whaler shark. Among the shallow demersal and reef fisheries fishermen target: groupers, trevallies or jacks, snappers, sweetlips and emperors. Interviews carried out confirm the main families mentioned above that fishermen indicated as their main catches: kingfish, sharks, tunas, groupers, snappers, manta rays; someone mentioned lobsters and then they talked about sardines, but more as catches to be used as bait for line fishing. Fishermen declared they would either sell fish to the cargo ships exporting it to Yemen mainland or to the UAE, otherwise they would sell it to the local market or to the UAE-owned fish processing factory located in the outskirts of Hadiboh. We draw on van Rensburg (2012) for what concerns traditional fishing, as the anthropologist classified and researched vessels, fishing techniques, equipment as well as fishermen communities, confronting his findings with our interviewees’ answers. Traditionally a variety of vessels have been used in Socotra, from the simple remuš, the sh¯asha, the s´erh.2, the h¯ur¯ı (pl. haw¯ar¯ı) and, more recently, the fibre glass boats, also known as “plastic” or blastik. The latter are the only ones still used, as during our fieldwork on the island we were informed that no one uses the wooden h¯ur¯ı anymore (Dionisius et al., 2010). Fishermen told us about two types of fiberglass vessels, a smaller one and a bigger one, which correspond to van Rensburg (2012) classification: one of 7–8 m in length, a beam of 1.3 m and depth of a metre, and the other 9–10 m in length, a beam of about one metre and a depth of approximately 1.4 m. Only in two cases did fishermen report owning three types of boats, a fisherman in Di-Hiram who claimed to own a three-ton boat, a two-ton boat and a one-ton boat; and a fisherman in Hoq who claimed to own a medium size boat with a larger beam which he used to carry tourists. Fishing on the island takes place for about 8 or 9 months with a seasonal break from May to the beginning of September due to the monsoon, which makes it impossible to fish except in certain areas of the southern coast, such as Mahferhin, where it is possible to keep going out by boat until the first week of June. Nonetheless, during the month of May many keep fishing for self-consumption from the shore using both lines and small nets. Moreover, getting closer to the windy season, most families sundry fish1 for self-consumption or to bring it as gifts to friends and relatives, usually they preserve manta rays, baby sharks, but also kingfish. Socotri fishermen use mainly five fishing methods: trapping, netting, handlining, trolling and longlining. Each of these methods depends on the areas where it is 1

The procedure to sundry fish consists in covering the seafood with salt and leave it under the sun for about a week, or alternatively they cook it first (hanit is the name of the process) and then let it dry in the sun. finally, they store it in a dry place protected from the wind. Women can be involved in this work if they sundry fish at home or to collect water and wood for cooking the fish.

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deployed and what species they aim to catch (van Rensburg, 2012). Traps are not very widespread, on one hand as they need specialists to make and repair them, moreover, they are forbidden in certain cases or areas; indeed, they are used mostly to catch lobsters (van Rensburg, 2012). Fishing with nets and lines are the most common techniques; however, there are several methos to use these instruments. As for nets there is a double sorting to consider: on one hand the shape and their use, on the other the mesh size which is used to classify them. Nets are indeed used in three different ways: circular ones are thrown from the shore or from the boat and usually they are nets with smaller mesh size. There are then the nets that are hung vertically with the bottom held by weights, which can be used in four different ways: top-anchored, bottom-anchored, the third configuration is where the net drift around a single anchored point and finally the fourth method is where the net is fixed to a boat and drifts following the current. However, the way Socotri fishermen classify the nets is by “eyes”, the smaller the eye, the smaller the mesh. Van Rensburg states that there are 12 sizes of nets; however, fishermen usually own only a few, usually three types, as also our interviewees confirmed, with the exception of some fishermen using more types. For example, a fisherman from Terbak (Ras Erisseyl) explained he used nets seized from 7 to 11 eyes. Moreover, even though this information does not correspond perfectly with what is reported by van Rensburg, the fishermen we talked to described and named nets as follows: 1. Katbeh-dishaqar—lager eyes used for sharks; 2. Katbeh-disanna—medium size eyes, used mainly for tuna or kingfish; 3. Ma’hdef —smaller eyes, there are two types, one which is the standard and then the one they name di-killebih which is used to catch sardines and thus has the smaller eyes size; 4. Sajini—it is also a small eyed net, it seems to correspond to the Ma’hdef dikillebih. Most of these nets are bought from the UAE as they would be much more expensive to purchase in Socotra or in Yemen. However, traditionally they would be handmade with cotton by the fishermen themselves. Nowadays not many make nets anymore; nonetheless this knowledge is not lost, as we met in Mahferhin fishermen who still make the small-eyed nets at home with a synthetic fibre similar to cotton (Fig. 2). The process takes about 15–20 days and about two spools of thread. Besides those who are still able to make their own nets many can fix their own equipment. Finally, the last instrument used to fish are fishing lines. Socotri use lines both from the shore and by boat. The lines, made of nylon—however some continue using the traditional cords in particular for sharks—are usually rolled up around different objects, from small wooden tables or sticks to plastic bottles (Fig. 3). For what concerns the use of lines van Rensburg (2012) classified three different fishing techniques: handlining, trolling and longlining. The first is used from the shore, while the last two from the boat. Lines must be combined with a hook and a lure. They either use sardines or artificial lures; these are often handmade, for example, with plastic bags used to carry onions or potatoes, as well as with other upcycled materials, while traditionally lures

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Fig. 2 A fisherman in Mahferhin showing us how to make a net. Source authors’ photo

Fig. 3 Examples of lines showed to us in Aririhun (left) and in Timreh (right), the cord is an old traditional line for sharks. Source authors’ photo

were made with goats’ bones. These are now mostly out of use; however, we have been shown some which are kept by fishermen. Another element of interest related to fishing life are boats shelters. These were used to store wooden haw¯ar¯ı away from the sun which could damage them. At the

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same time shelters were used to store dried fish or to sleep when fishing around the island (van Rensburg, 2012). Nowadays they are still used to shelter boats, fishing equipment and dried fish. There are three main types of boat shelters: rock caverns near the coast, and two others built with stones or palm fronds, though metal and plastic sheets can be incorporated into the construction. The way vessels are sheltered varies according to the area, in particular in Qalansiyah and along the southern coast, most boats are stored near the coast either capsized or just pulled ashore. However, in Mahferhin similar buildings made of palm fronds are used to store fishing equipment, but also as shelters for fishermen to gather when they are not working. Much of the above-mentioned traditional fishing equipment can be seen at the Socotra Folk Museum opened in 2008 by Ahmad bin Sa’d Khamis Tahki al-Saqatri and located in Riqeleh, along the northern coast of the island. The founder of the museum worked with Dr. Miranda Morris for several years and started researching and collecting traditional objects to preserve the cultural heritage of the island in 1991 (Peutz, 2018). The museum displays everyday life items labeled and described. Fishing tools displayed include traps, nets, lines, hooks, a h¯ur¯ı equipped with sails, and a remuš (Fig. 4). As reported by Peutz (2018): it must be quite unsettling to find such an enviable concrete, modern, and “Arab” house sheltering nothing but commonplace things—homemade tools, implements, and materials Fig. 4 A picture of the fishery corner of the museum. Source authors’ photo

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Next to this rich set of material elements of Socotri fishery tradition and current use, there are also immaterial elements which are of no less importance and are part of the island’s heritage: the way fishermen organise themselves and the rules they establish as a community, and fishermen’s chants and poems. Zajonz et al. (2016) reports that the first fishing cooperative of the island was opened in 1990, and that by 2000 there were 25 cooperatives in the whole island. However, van Rensburg (2012) suggests that fishing cooperatives were established much earlier, around 1970. Cooperatives (our interpreter always referred to them as “associations”) set prices on the sale of fish, establish and sustain maintenance and storage facilities (Hariri et al., 2002); moreover, cooperatives assist fishermen in obtaining access to credit to buy new vessels and equipment (van Rensburg, 2012). During our interviews with fishermen, cooperatives have been described mainly as the collective body which establishes fishing rules, next to this, fishermen explained that associations would organise the sale (keeping a certain percentage of the price), could work as a common fund and could provide help in landing or even donating money for fishermen in need. However, every association had its own rules. As cooperatives establish fishing rules, they took on the role of resource management which was already practiced by fishing communities. Indeed, the village leader established restrictions on fishing equipment, techniques, and times (van Rensburg, 2012). Similarly, cooperatives make most decisions through assemblies of the elder fishermen of the villages. The main rule, which is established everywhere around the island, is the one forbidding fishing during the full moon; there might be slight changes as to the length of the ban, or some cooperatives may forbid the use of nets and traps in specific areas, while allow fishing with lines, or the ban of capturing small pelagic species (see also Cheung & DeVantier, 2006). The second important rule that all interviewees mentioned, which is addressed more to fishermen coming from abroad, such as fishing tourists, is the ban of equipment that local fishermen do not use, above all fishing spearguns. The other immaterial heritage of which fishermen are key holders are the poems (Morris, 2021) and chants they use during their work, the first which are considered a form of art widespread in the island,2 to the point of organising festivals (Peutz, 2018), and the latter used in everyday life to encourage one another during work or to invoke good luck with fishing. Peutz (2018) illustrates how poetry is an important oral tradition in Socotra and gives a magnificent account of it. As for fishing villages, we had the chance of being honoured with a poem only once; nonetheless, many fishermen sang for us some of the chants they use during work. Having a precise 2

The Socotra Heritage Project organises festivals and events (mainly in Hadiboh and Qalansiyah) with children and teenagers to create awareness on their traditions, including the traditional songs, dances and poems (Esmail Salem, Socotra Heritage Project, 02/06/2022).

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Table 1 The content of the chants and songs shared by fishermen during interviews Village

Fisherman Content of the chant

Aririhun

1

Chanted during fishing: “If we do it together, we push it far and quick”—they used it for pushing boats out at sea or to bring it back to shore

Timreh

2

Chanted during fishing: “If we do it together, we push it far and quick”—they used it for pushing boats out at sea or to bring it back to the shore

Di-Hiram

3

Chanted during fishing: “God help us”

Sakar

5

Chanted for catching kingfish: “What type of fish would you like?”

Qalansiyah 7

Chanted during fishing: “God is helping”

Qalansiyah 9

Idiomatic poem: “Somalis sell your coat, to buy a coat for yourself”. Meaning: “If I catch a fish, I can then buy what I like”. This is because Somalis are considered not rich and, therefore, they have only one coat for many years

Mahferhin

11

Chanted during fishing: “Go ahead, go on”. It is called She’hrioh

Mahferhin

14

Chant for when nets are cast into sea and when they catch fish, they bring it back on the boat

Terbak

17

Chant for pulling the boat ashore Chanted during fishing: “Go ahead, go on”. It is called She’hrioh Chanted for fishing Kingfish with a technique called “ere” (casting) Chanted to take the boat to sea: “Let’s help each other to put the boat out” Ras Erisseyl

19

Chant: “I’m looking for you, where are you fish? I don’t’ find you, I have to find you” Chanted when they catch a fish “God help me” Chanted to take the boat to sea: “Take it out”

translation was not possible; however, our interpreter informed us about the meaning or the use (Table 1).

3 Fishing Tourism: The State of the Art In Socotra the tourist offer began developing at the beginning of the 2000s, or to be precise it began in 1999 (Governorate of Tourism in Socotra, 01/06/2022). This development was connected to the National Environmental Action Plan for 1996–2000, which outlined among the priorities the constitution of an ecotourism department within the General Tourism Authority (World Bank, 2000). The second fundamental step in the direction of tourism growth was the Socotra Archipelago Master Plan (2000–2010), which included a development model based on sustainable fisheries and nature-based tourism, and even Ceballos-Lascuráin (1999) visited the island

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in 1999 to prepare an Ecotourism Development Plan for the island. An NGO, the Socotra Ecotourism Society was created and trained guides and drivers and operated for two years before losing funds and the mandate as the single travel agency (t.a.) in Socotra (Peutz, 2018). Despite difficulties and uncertainties, Socotra became part of the World Heritage List “but this achievement meant more to the project management and the international community than it did to most Soqotrans”. Nonetheless, “campgrounds […] were erected in five of the eleven protected areas. And the numbers of tourists skyrocketed” (Peutz, 2018, p. 136). Indeed, arrivals saw a rapid growth between 2004 and 2008 (estimated arrivals per year about 3500 people), and it kept growing until the Arab Springs in 2011. According to Scholte et al. (2011) the peak of arrivals was in 2008 with more than 4000 tourists. With the Arab Springs in 2011 first, and the war in 2014 after, tourism has come to a halt. Indeed, with the beginning of conflicts Yemen lost the conditions on which tourism strictly depends, namely peace, political stability, economic growth and good health condition for travelling and permanence (Keller, 2020). Visitors began arriving again in Socotra at the beginning of 2020; however, a new crisis—the Covid-19 pandemic—stopped flows once more. At the time of our interview the representative of the governorate of tourism we met declared that during the season 2021/2022 season there had been about 1900 visitors,3 considering the numbers of ten years before arrivals are still considerably low. Factors to be considered are the seasonality of tourism, which stops completely from the end of April to the beginning of September because of the monsoon. The other issue hindering a greater growth is the accessibility to the island, complicated by the geopolitical situation. At the same time, it must be acknowledged that compared to the rest of Yemen, Socotra is essentially the only part of the country where tourism began to recover. As suggested by Peutz during an interview, “Its remoteness, which previously meant it was the poorest region of Yemen, now ensures that it has been largely protected from the war and famine that plagues mainland Yemen” (Hawksley, 2019). Of course, at the same time the new growth of arrivals cannot be understood without considering the investment of the UAE on the island, mostly through humanitarian aid and education, but also with direct and indirect investment on tourism: they increased the accessibility of Socotra with weekly flights directly from Abu Dhabi and invested on infrastructures, as well as directly on tourism by opening a travel agency on the island. For what concerns the tourism offer and the reception facilities, the island counts six hotels in Hadiboh and a number of campsites. These are generally organised with shaded common spaces and pitches for tents. Recently, almost all campsites were equipped with toilets and rudimental showers. We were able to visit the Di-Hamri, Sakar, Qalansyia, Noged, Diksam, and Houmil campsites. (Fig. 5). Campsites may belong to one single family or to an entire village. Usually, t.a. rent the number of pitches they need from them. Nonetheless, one of the interviewed t.a. declared that they are “the only ones with accommodation in the island, so we alternate camping 3

Figure confirmed by the number of visitors to the Hoq Cave, one of the main tourist attractions of the island.

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Fig. 5 Campsites in Qalansiyah (left) and Di-Hamri (right). Source: authors’ photo

with our own hotels and chalets. As said, we are the only ones with a decent and clean accommodation with proper bathroom, hot water, AC, and extremely comfortable beds (double mattress) in cosy chalets by the sea” (TA5, 12/05/2022). Currently tourism on the island is managed almost completely by the travel agencies, as they are the only subjects authorised to release visas for tourists, through the local ministry of tourism representative—this same office is the one which is responsible for releasing the permission to operate to t.a. Agencies organise the offer in weekly packages; this is due to the accessibility of the island guaranteed by one flight per week from Abu Dhabi to Socotra every Monday, through the UAE low-cost airline Air Arabia. As suggested by one of the t.a. representatives: The service is ok, and the good thing is that the flight arrives from Abu Dhabi. It started in 2020, before […] tourists had to fly from Cairo to Yemen and then to Socotra. It is easier and tourists feel more secure as people do not want to stop over on the mainland, but fly directly to Socotra (TA 1, 31/05/2022).

Local-based t.a. hold partnerships with other tour operators in different countries (among those mentioned more often: Italy, UK, USA, Poland, Russia, Belarus, …) who would provide them contacts with final clients. The 1-week package offered is very similar for each of the t.a., as they all offer a tour of the main sites of interest of the island. Just as an example, the t.a. who provided our guide and driver typically offers the following stops: Arher, Houmil, Ras Erisseyl, Kallisan, Di-Hamri, Qalansiyah, Shu’ab, Diksam, Noged desert. But, as another t.a. representative told us, “Itineraries may change, according to clients, as if people want to relax […] they don’t visit the caves or the south side of the island. […] Other people do it more in a rush as they want to visit more sites” (TA1, 31/05/2022). They provide tourists everything they need, from the pickups with drivers (as this is the only way to move around the island), kitchen, cooks, food and beverage, equipment for the overnight stays in tents

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at campsites. Moreover, they would arrange guides for boat tours, or for a tour of the Hoq Cave, a special tour and lunch with the “cave man4 ” of Qalansiyah, or camel treks. Moreover, there are tourists who decide to stay in Hadiboh at one of the hotels and visit the island during the day with single day trips. One of the interviewed t.a. stated: We can customize any request but mainly there is a ‘standard’ 1 week tour that covers the main places you have to visit. Also, 2 weeks one if you want a dedicated trekking to Hagger mountains is available. Then we focus on activities like diving, kitesurfing, kayaking or fishing and for this new need to tailor the itinerary according to the activity (TA5, 12/05/ 2022).

The type of packages offered is defined by all tour operators of the island as ecotourism. Drawing from the rich literature on the topic (Buckley, 1994; Fennell & Dowling, 2003; Cater, 2006; Donohoe & Needham, 2006; Brandt & Buckley, 2018), we prefer to define it nature-based tourism.5 Indeed, compared to the definition of ecotourism, what is practiced in Socotra is missing an active role in addressing social and environmental goals, and benefit conservation through “support for wildlife and protected areas, diversified livelihoods, environmental interpretation and ethics, and strengthened resource management institutions” (Stronza et al., 2019, p. 236). What is offered is instead to visit high value and unique natural areas, including protected areas, sometimes with little attention to the use of the pick-ups in those areas.6 Even though tourists’ groups are never particularly numerous, with an average of 20 people per week per agency, this does not assure sustainability, as an evaluation of impacts of the use of vehicles, the large use of plastic, and the disposal of trash should be evaluated. In any case, it should be kept in mind that, according to Scholte et al., “communities agreed on the designation of nature sanctuaries based on the understanding they would be assisted in tapping into funds stemming from ecotourism, as an alternative to restricted use” (2011, p. 405).7 Moreover, in 2007 an internal management plan review highlighted advancement in the environment conservation, “with increasing benefits for local people through community-run campsites and related ecotourism” (Scholte et al., 2011, p. 407). The same review suggested that revised plans should engage the impact of growing numbers of tourists on the environment through the improvement of waste management systems and the introduction of solar energy (Scholte et al., 2011). 4

Mr. Abdullah is a fisherman who offers boat tours of the lagoon in Qalansiyah, on request he fishes for tourists and make them lunch in his cave facing the lagoon. The cave can be reached by boat or through a 15-min trek. 5 To be noted: the authors are aware that the definitions proposed are based mostly of a western conception of conservation, environment, nature, and its inhabitants; as well as that the critiques of ecotourism demonstrated “that the practice does not always live up to the ideals” (Stronza et al., 2019, p. 234). 6 During our fieldwork we were often offered to be driven very close to any natural attraction or vulnerable sites of the island, which made our “eco-western-ethics” silently scream as we were literally running over natural heritage. 7 As argued by Peutz (2018), this process was not straightforward and let emerge clashes, also because tourism was not able to increase the population income as promised.

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Within the tourist offer of the island is also fishing tourism. Specifically, what is advertised is—though a common comparison—“another Galapagos” (I Love Socotra Spirit of Adventure, 2022; see also Fig. 6). a unique place in the world for fishing! […] Socotra Island is one of the prime spots for GT Fishing. The incredible thing about this island is the average size of the Giant Trevallies, which is around 35 Kilogram, with fish up to 60 Kilogram caught every year. But in October there is a huge migration of Sailfish and Spanish Mackerel, and a migration of pelagic crab, that floating on the water cause a continuous feeding by many kinds of trevally such as Golden Trevally, Yellow Spotted Trevally, Bludger Trevally and Black Tip Trevally (Socotra Adventure, 2022).

Generally, big game fishing refers to fishing practiced several miles off the coast and carried out at depths greater than 30 m. It is practiced both at a professional level using large boats equipped with cold storage, as well as a sporting activity aimed at capturing large specimens. The sport fisherman is the one who fishes exclusively with rod and reel, using appropriate equipment and following the directives and ethics imposed by the International Game Fish Association (Massarotto, 1986). This sport is based on the development of motorized boats and became a widespread activity

Fig. 6 The advertising of fishing tourism on a travel agency website. 2022 Source: I Love Socotra Spirit of Adventure,

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between the 1950s and 1960s, also pushed by imaginaries coming from the works of writers such as Zane Grey, Kip Farrington and Ernest Hemingway (Borch et al., 2008; Killion, 2007). The main destinations worldwide for this fishing practice are: S. Miguel (Azores), Prince Edward Island (Canada), Capo Hatteras, Virginia City, Miami, Key West, Cabo San Lucas, (USA), Bahamas, Cuba, Antilles, Jamaica, Baia Pez Vela and El Octotal (Costa Rica), Cairns (Australia), Seychelles, Kenia and Mauritius (Massarotto, 2017). In this worldwide map Socotra is an unknown hot spot compared to other big game areas. Indeed “in Socotra there is absolutely no structure that could allow the big game in the strict sense of the term. […] Socotra doesn’t have facilities for deep sea fishing comparable to other areas of the world, first of all a dock. What attracts the fisherman is the search for “big fish” (marlins mostly but there are few), while in Socotra the most widespread fish is Giant Trevally (mostly Carangidae) and others” (Expert of Big Game Fishing, Massimo Massarotto, 24/04/2022). Socotra is very rich in its marine life and untouched, so people are interested. In particular the two sites for fishing are Ras Erisseyl and Shu’hab, on the two extremities of the island. However, Ras Erisseyl is the number 1 place. People can catch big fish in such a short time, they are very happy, they take a lot of photos. However, there are not so many people who come for this type of tourism (TA 1, 31/05/2022).

The emerging fish tourism sector in Socotra is, therefore, not comparable to the one practiced in other areas, but configurates as a hybrid which uses part of the equipment traditionally used for big game fishing (fishing rod and reel) and local vessels. This influences how far from the coast boats can go, the stability of the vessel and how many people it can carry. This is true for all, but one t.a. which declared: “We own our own professional boat although we may also use the local fishermen ones. We always have them into consideration and even if we use our own boat, we always pay them as if we were using theirs” (TA5, 12/05/2022). This type of tourism, as already mentioned, is managed at the local level by t.a., which receive, most of the time, clients from international partners. Similarly to the nature-based tourism packages, fishing tourism on Socotra is organized in 1-week or 2-weeks offer. Before the arrival we ask if they want to go to the east, in Ras Erisseyl, and stay there or if they want to do three days one side and three the other, or if they want to stay on the western coast. Most of them want to stay 1 week in Ras Erisseyl, for the whole week. We provide tents, cook, food, car, a big tent for sheltering, … (TA 2, 31/05/2022).

Sometimes, they may decide to spend part of their stay at one spot and part at the other, but this choice is typically made if they stay 2 weeks. Fishing tourists would spend almost the entire time at sea and only during their last day take a day or half day off to visit Diksam and see the notorious dragon blood trees. As for the organization the main difference with other tours is the rental of the vessels. During interviews with fishermen of Terbak (Ras Erisseyl), they described the system they use for renting their boats: the community manages the rental of the boats through meetings where they divide the number of tourists by each fisherman, sharing the groups within the village’s families, those who won’t work with one

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group, will work with the next.8 The price for renting a vessel is about 120/130 USD per day for fishing tourists, including the cost of petrol and the captain. For what concerns fishing practices, tourists would stay out fishing all day, with a break for lunch time. Moreover, fishermen interviewed reported that tourists would usually release their catch, unless they catch small fish, in which case they would keep it as a meal or give it to the fisherman who led them. In this, we found confirmation of what Massimo Massarotto explained us about the fact that the fish doesn’t belong to the person who catches it, but to the vessel. Nonetheless, in big game fishing the general rule is to release the fish unless its condition wouldn’t allow it to survive.

4 Material and Methods This paper is based on two main methods: semi-structured interviews with travel agencies offering fishing tourism packages on Socotra and with local stakeholders and fishermen, together with observation during fieldwork. The authors spent 2 weeks on Socotra between May 23rd and June 6th 2022. This time was used for explorative observation (Claval, 2013) and interviews. Observations were recorded through a field diary (Phillippi and Lauderdale, 2018) drafted every evening. The travel agencies had been contacted before travelling with the aim of collecting useful information to organise our trip and fieldwork. Out of the 13 agencies identified, we were able to meet four on the island, while one filled in an online questionnaire, and another was contacted by phone. The different ways to contact travel agencies is a result of the adaptation of our method to participants’ needs. Indeed, due to the scarce internet connection on the island not all of them were able to fill in the form online; moreover, one representative of a travel agency was not on the island at the time of our stay. In order to compensate for the different methods used with the travel agency that filled the online questionnaire, the authors established a further exchange with the travel agency through email and other forms of Instant messaging. Interviews and questionnaires for travel agencies (see “Appendix 1”) were composed of four sections: general information, fishing tourism on Socotra, relations with the island, and tourism in Socotra. The first section aimed at collecting data about the travel agency and their general work. The second was aimed at an in-depth examination of their fishing tourism offer. The third investigated the involvement of the local community in fishing tourism activities; finally, the last section explored the issues and future perspective related to tourism in the island. Interviews with fishermen (Appendix 2) were conducted through accidental sampling, which is more suitable when the population of a survey is not defined (Etikan et al., 2016), due to the impossibility of measuring and contacting the entire target population. This is “a type of nonprobability sampling where members of the target population that meet certain practical criteria, such as easy accessibility, 8

The same system is used for hiring a guide for the tour of the Hoq Cave.

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geographical proximity, availability at a given time, or the willingness to participate are included for the purpose of the study” (Etikan et al., 2016, p. 2). Specifically, in this work the authors accessed fishermen—16 interviews were collected in nine different villages (Fig. 1)—through a gatekeeper. Interviewees were selected according to criteria agreed in advance with our gatekeeper. Even though most of fishing villages are located along the northern coast, the authors requested to meet fishermen from different geographic areas of the island (northern coast, eastern coast, and southern coast) to have a wide perspective on the different relations between fishing communities and tourists. Moreover, the areas where fishing tourism was already implemented were of primary interest, as well as those villages located near camp sites. Indeed, author asked to meet fishermen who worked with tourists as well as some who did not. Another element was suggested by the gatekeeper, inviting the researchers to meet heads of communities or elderly fishermen as a matter of respect; however, interviews were carried out also with younger fishermen to balance the sample. Researchers had almost no control on the location of the interviews, which were held accordingly to the interviewees’ choices. Interviews were conducted at the fisherman’s house, or at the community leader’s house, while some were conducted outdoors by fishermen’s equipment storage or in gardens. The authors would briefly introduce the research before beginning the interview. The guide would translate the questions asked and the fishermen’s answers. Interviews were recorded with the permission of interviewees and at the same time handwritten notes were taken while speaking. This double record was useful to ensure information would not get lost. Indeed, recording conditions were often not optimal, moreover none of the people involved were English native speakers. These conditions did not allow us to rely only on voice records. Interviews had an average length of 20/30 min. One of the main difficulties was the inability to deeply investigate each topic; as it is likely that most interviewees were not used to release interviews, the answers were usually direct and relatively short. Those who had more chances to face an interview before would speak more freely. Difficulties in carrying out interviews, which were well addressed by Kasim and Al-Gahuri (2015) were largely overcome through the assistance of our local guide. Wagdi, who facilitated our access to interviewees—softening our gendered presence and reducing the risk of not being recognised as peer interlocutors—, has been very helpful also thanks to his personal contacts. Indeed, our guide came from a fishermen family and at the same time worked also as a tourist guide; this was, on the one hand, helpful as he was an insider and could provide detailed information about both fisheries and fishing communities, and tourism organisation on the island; however, on the other hand this deep engagement provided a bias. This was considered when analysing data from the interviews, and during the conduction of interviews, as on occasion the answer to the question asked would be given to us directly by the guide, bypassing the interviewee. This did not happen with malicious intent from the interpreter, but simply as he was himself well informed about our interviews’ topics.

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Moreover, the researchers had planned to visit other sites of tourist interest and interview subjects involved in tourism on Socotra for a total of 9 interviews. This choice was made in order to have a complete picture of the tourist offerings of the island. Namely, we had the chance to meet three campsite owners, the manager of the Hoq Cave visiting system, the manager of the endemic plants nursery, the Socotra tourism governorate representative, some members of the Socotra Woman Association, as well as a representative from the Socotra Heritage Project and the local manager of the Protected Area in Houmil. The data collected through interviews were transcribed and divided into two main categories: descriptive data and opinions and experience-related data. Descriptive data were incorporated in Sects. 4 and 5 to complete the information available in the existing literature and provide a full account of the anthropological and heritage elements of interest for fishing tourism, as well as the state of the art of fishing tourism. Opinions and experience-related data, in part reported in Sect. 5, will be further discussed in the next section.

5 Discussion: The Developing of Sustainable Fishing Tourism Worldwide, small-scale fishing has faced a general decrease in income; therefore, it has begun developing tight connections with tourism, as fishermen searched for alternatives to diversify their main activity. In Socotra, despite the traditional local management of fisheries, the increase in the local fleet size, of facilities, the growing local demand together with the growing exportation “has transformed Socotra’s fisheries into a more commercial enterprise, undermining the traditional roots and best customary practices” (Zajonz et al., 2016, p. 673). Moreover, Zajonz et al. (2016) suggest that these over-investments and over-fishing, together with the consequent disappearing of the traditional management practices are a threat to the future sustainability of Socotra’s fisheries. In the previous sections we analyzed Socotra’s traditional fishing and the current fishing tourism offer. Considered the situation described, we argue that professional fishing, recreational fishing and tourism can interact profitably and provide mutual benefits; moreover, they could create complementary management of coastal resources and be a driver for improved habitat and ecosystem conservation (Voyer et al., 2017; Lois González and de los Ángeles Piñeiro Antelo, 2020; Hall, 2021). Generally, fishing tourism is considered the recreational activity in which fishermen take tourists aboard vessels to go fishing, and this is the case of the current fishing tourism in Socotra. In the effort of defining this type of tourism, Kauppila and Karjalainen (2012) differentiate “tourism fishing” from “fishing tourism”. For what concerns the first, fishing is only one of several reasons to choose a destination. In the second case, fishing is the main motivation for tourists. In this sense fishing

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tourism can be encompassed in Stebbins’ concept of serious leisure, which is “the systematic pursuit of an amateur, hobbyist, or volunteer core activity that is highly substantial, interesting, and fulfilling” (1992, p. 3). Nonetheless, just as with many of the branches of tourism, this activity may span between very different directions, including a number of marine and water-based activities. Thus, among the various activities embraced by the umbrella term, fishing tourism, recreational and sport fishing, are central, but other economic (accommodation, restaurants, retail, and services for tourists) and cultural activities (visiting water museums, learning about local fishing traditions, marine and coastal life, visiting heritage sites, eating local traditional dishes, …) must be included. Thus, fishing tourism is based on nature and nature-based activities, but it is also a culturebased tourism (Lois González and de los Ángeles Piñeiro Antelo, 2020, Tsafoutis & Metaxas, 2021). Among others, Tsafoutis and Metaxas (2021) argue that fishing tourism can be a driver for creating the conditions for a common vision among tourists and local inhabitants. Local fishermen would have the chance to protect the environment they live in and that is their fundamental resource: “in terms of environmental, economic and social goods, conserving them from the negative impacts that may result from the development of tourism” (p. 1). At the same time, tourists can learn about places and the culture of an area through participation in traditional fishing practices. We argue that this is never a straightforward path and that achieving sustainable tourism can be particularly difficult in contexts such as the island of Socotra. In this sense, we maintain that a fundamental concept is that of communitybased tourism, which is directed to favour community in “remote, rural, impoverished, marginalized, economically depressed, undeveloped, poor, indigenous, ethnic minority, and people in small towns” (Tasci et al., 2013, p. 10). More specifically, community-based tourism is characterised by the control and management of tourism by the local community (Leksakundilok & Hirsch, 2008) with the aim of benefitting the community, improve livelihoods, and—if in or near protected areas—contributing to conservation (Dodds et al., 2018; Sebele, 2010; Tolkach & King, 2015; Trejos & Chiang, 2009). However, it must be supported by partners and in particular by the local and national government, whose role is crucial for the promulgation of policy, empowerment and overall capacity building. Policies and strategies that are meant to transform economies can only be made by Government with other stakeholders. This cannot be left to the markets to address as markets can be manipulated to favour a few (Giampiccoli et al., 2020, p.431).

This statement remains true also in a complex situation such as the one in Yemen, where the “absence of the state” is a prolonged status quo. Given this frame, as demonstrated in Sect. 5, even though Socotra Island is still hardly accessible to mass tourism, the number of tourists visiting the island has been recently increasing and it encompass tourists’ interest towards marine life and, in certain cases, in fishing practices and traditions. To begin, the authors explored if and how local fishing practices have changed through the interaction with international fishermen. Out of the 16 fishermen interviewed, ten had—more or less—regular

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interaction with tourists, while two had it in the past and very seldom, and the final four did not have any interaction with tourists. We asked local fishermen how the work with tourists interfered with their fishing activities. In general, the answer was that the two activities can be well managed at the same time. When asked how they manage fishing when they have tourists’ groups, we received two answers: either they would fish at the same time together with tourists, or they would rent some of their boats and keep others for going out at sea. The general answer to our question on the economic benefit of tourism was positive, except for some fishermen who stated that selling fish to tourists may not always be more convenient than selling it for export. Authors explored the willingness of fishermen to teach traditional techniques to tourists and to bring them out at sea: […] it depends on the group, if there are small groups, we can fish to catch small fish with the net. I show them how to throw the net, one or two people tried to throw it too. I am available to teach people how to fish, but it would be difficult as it takes time (Fisherman 7).

Finally, when interrogated on possible clashes or issues they had with tourists, no one among fishermen or t.a. representatives openly said they ever had problems. Nonetheless, they mentioned that tourists are always welcome as long as they follow the community rules. The problematic behaviours highlighted were either related to the presence of tourists in villages: women have to wear proper clothes and it is forbidden to take photos without permission. The second type concerns specifically fishing and the use of forbidden equipment (such as fishing spearguns) or equipment not available to local fishermen. Moreover, specifically in Terbak, fishermen underlined that tourists cannot bring boats from other communities, and that they have to fish in specific areas, thus led by local fishermen. The statements on the positive attitude towards tourism must be framed within the current low number of arrivals, and we argue it would be challenged with increased tourism pressure. Moreover, another lens to apply to the interpretation of fishermen statements on tourists can be found in Peutz when she states about hospitality: “karam, which can also refer to nobility, honor, dignity, respect, and esteem, is widely celebrated as an essential virtue: a ‘sacred duty’”; and even though it is said that this is particularly true “for the people of the badiya [rural countryside]” (2018, p. 35), karam is a duty and a virtue for all inhabitants of the island. And again, quoting one of Peutz’s interviews: “People must have karam. Even now, foreigners come. Foreigners come to us from far away and we don’t know them. […], but even when they come, we give them generosity” (2018, pp. 36–37). However, as the rules underlined by fishermen well illustrate, hospitality cannot be unconditional, as it must respond to the contingency of the situation—a reality that clashes with the ethics behind hospitality (see Deridda, 2000) and which is a source of concern among Socotri as they are not able to be as hospitable as their ancestors (Peutz, 2018). We acknowledge that community-based fishing tourism could be a diversification of the fishing activity, a source of extra income for fishermen and, at the same time, it could incentivize sustainable tourism development on the island. Through

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interviews and observation, it was possible to examinate the anthropological and heritage elements of interest, which were reported in Sect. 4, for integrating and promoting such a tourism offer. For what concerns vessels—even though the traditional wooden h¯ur¯ı, and even less so, the remuš, are not used anymore and are actually very rare—we suggest preserving those still available and make them accessible for exhibitions and demonstrations such as boat tours. At the same time, we argue that it would not be sustainable to promote a new introduction and diffusion of those vessels for everyday use, as they would be impractical for fishermen9 and, at the same time, they should be constructed and imported from other areas. Indeed, they were traditionally brought to Socotra from Oman, East Africa or India. Nonetheless, it would be important to maintain those few still available on the island and the know-how to fix and modify them (Van Rensburg, 2012). Also boat shelters, where used, could be an element of the material heritage to include in fishing tours to show construction techniques. Moreover, tourists could be involved or shown activities such as net and lure making or fish drying—where these practices are in use. Finally, the current fishing tours could offer the possibility of teaching tourists and let them experiment with local fishing techniques, learning about the traditional chants and poetry. This type of tours could be developed in cooperation with the Socotra Heritage Project which has been working since 2018 on integrating the cultural heritage into the natural zoning plan. Also, the visits to the Folk Museum should become more integrated during tours and may have the important function of not having tourists “invading” fishing villages; a possible idea could be the transmission of the knowhow to create a net of micro museums on the island where the above-mentioned activities could take place. Now that we have outlined the elements that can configurate the offer, we want to discuss the potentialities, limits and threats related to it. For what concerns the potentialities, we argue that the presence of a net of fishing cooperatives, a decisionmaking system which is based on local assembly, and a management system of tourism incomes which is already strongly distributive in its essence within the different fishing villages and communities, is a fundamental basis to construct a community-based tourism offer. In this sense, the role that the fishing cooperatives may have in connecting t.a., fishermen communities and the Heritage Project should be further explored. Moreover, during fieldwork we noted the great investment in education of pupils and specifically in English language training, as well as in IT, economics, and some elements of tourism. As for the limits, connected to the sadly notorious war going on in Yemen and the complexity linked to the monsoon seasonality, it must be recognised that the accessibility to the island is limited. Therefore, the current number of arrivals is very low, and it may not be sufficient to make a difference in communities’ incomes; thus, the economic sustainability should be well evaluated. Moreover, accessibility is 9

Not because they were not seaworthy, on the contrary there are testimony of durability and effectiveness (Van Rensburg, 2012), but because it would be highly impractical and expensive to import and maintain them for everyday use, due to the current large diffusion of fiberglass boats.

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limited also because of the conditions of existing roads and accommodation facilities, which are still not able to sustain a larger number of tourists than the current figure. Another partial limit consists of the fact that educational programmes are, for the most part, delivered by private schools, universities, or provided by humanitarian organisations. Public education is present but weak, and the lack of a super partes institution to educate and train students to manage their own islands’ cultural and natural resources presents itself as a limit; however, we recognise that a stronger presence is greatly hindered by the current situation. Finally, for what concerns threats we argue that, as in many similar contexts (Loperena, 2017; Mahrouse, 2011), the main risk is a growing externalisation outside Socotra of revenues and benefits exploiting local resources. In this sense, tourism development on Socotra is particularly appealing, considering the general geopolitical situation of Socotra, for investors from the UAE and Saudi Arabia. However, the awareness of the need of participation in tourism development by locals is expressed in the statement by TA2 (31/05/2022) who told us: “In 2008 I started Socotra Tours, in 2011 I went to Italy for the international tourism organisation and from that time I realised that us as local people have the priority to work with tourism in Socotra”. Moreover, a fundamental threat is the eventuality of the over-exploitation of heritage and endangered sites and resources. In this regard, we must include the possible conflicts raised with and within communities. An example can be found in the creation and attribution of use of the zoning plan that risk to result in contradictions. As reported by Peutz (2018), the nature sanctuaries that needed to be “‘preserved […] in as undisturbed state as possible’. Yet these were precisely the areas targeted for ecotourism development” (p. 133).

6 Conclusions This chapter focused on fishing material and immaterial traditions. We connected the local fisheries and villages to the developing tourism sector and assessed the current state of the art. The short period perspective, also in the operators’ opinion, is that tourism will keep growing and, despite all the limits of accessibility of the island, the number of arrivals will increase. Within this perspective, we argued that sustainable fishing tourism could be a source of extra income for fishermen, and, at the same time, it could incentivize sustainable tourism development. Specifically, we explored the possibilities of developing community-based fishing tourism. The current fishing tourism offer is addressed to a specific niche sector which involves professional and amateur fishermen (the majority of them being men) who practice GT and big game fishing. This type of sport and the connected tourism requires several infrastructures and equipment that currently would be impossible for local fishermen to acquire, and a growth of the sector could be possible only with important external investments. However, as demonstrated this could strongly undermine the local fishermen activity and everyday life, going against their community rules. Moreover, from the interviews with tour operators it emerged that fishing

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tourists—as well as the traditional ones—chose Socotra as a destination more for the novelty, the sense of adventure and of discovering an “untouched natural sanctuary” and the rich marine life, as well as discovering distant cultures, than for the possibility of finding highly technological fishing structures and infrastructures. This is, together with the effort of safeguarding the natural and cultural heritage of Socotra and the livelihood of its inhabitants, a fundamental element to consider in proposing the creation of a community-based fishing tourism offer. This type of offer would indeed constitute an alternative—not excluding but adding options—to the current offer, which strive to stick to concepts such es ecotourism, with little success. Moreover, developing a concrete connection with fishermen and fishing communities can integrate their activity more thoroughly with tourism, adding to the current offer of boat tours or selling seafood and other small local products. Moreover, this offer could constitute a way to extend the current stay of both fishing tourists and traditional tourists on the island, as well as attract a new niche interested in cultural heritage. To conclude, we would like to mention some of the limitations of this work and possible future perspectives. As for the limitations, the 2-week long fieldwork was fundamental, but at the same time, it was barely sufficient—as we are talking about community-based tourism—to construct this proposal. Indeed, this research would need to be brought back to the communities we encountered through the fishermen who dedicated us their time and knowledge, in order to share and discuss with them our ideas. In this sense, a limitation of this work was the organisation of the fieldwork guide and interviews, as the presence of two separate figures—a gatekeeper and a neutral interpreter—would be essential for conducting further research steps, to guarantee accessibility to the communities but at the same time avoid possible bias. Acknowledgements We want to thank Caterina Borgato, traveller, photographer, and tour guide, for her support at different stages of this work, as her experiences on Socotra Island were a precious guide for conceiving this research work. We also thank Massimo and Edoardo Massarotto for sharing their expertise on big game fishing. We also thank the editors of this volume for the chance to work on such an incredible island and a stimulating issue. Finally, our thanks to the reviewers for their insights.

Appendix 1: Questions Asked to Travel Agencies Section 1—General information (1) Name of the organization/tour operator. (2) Where are you based and what type of tour operator are you (e.g.: small/large, international, independent, adventure, alternative, etc.)?

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(3) Would you define yourself as a tour operator specialised in big game fishing tourism? If so, in which other regions of the world do you offer fishing tours? (4) For what concerns Socotra, do you also offer other types of tours besides fishing experiences? Section 2—Fishing tourism on Socotra (1) What types of fishing tours do you offer in Socotra (e.g.: how many people, what duration, in what period(s) of the year)? Do you camp with tourists on the island? Is the caught fish released into the sea, does it belong to the owner of the boats, or do you cook and eat it together? (2) What are the characteristics of tourists taking part in your fishing tours in Socotra (e.g.: where do they come from, if they are regular deep sea fishing practitioners, what age are they on average, if most of them are men, etc.)? (3) Why do tourists taking part in your fishing tours choose Socotra? (4) What species of fish do tourists catch/seek in Socotra? And why? What big game fishing techniques do you use on the island? (5) What areas/coasts of the island do you select for your tours (where do you stay and where do you fish)? Section 3—Relations with the island (1) Do you rely on the assistance of locals for organising and carrying out your activities? (2) Do you bring and provide the needed equipment? Do tourists bring their own? And what about the boats? Do you use/rent local boats? What types of boats do you use? (3) Are you (or your customers) interested in traditional local fishing of Socotra (for example: boats, techniques, target species, fishing villages, etc.)? (4) What types of interaction do you and your customers have with the local population? (5) Alongside fishing, what aspects of the island are your fishing tour clients interested in? Section 4—Tourism in Socotra (1) Is it logistically complicated to organize these fishing holidays in Socotra? If so, what are the reasons? (2) How would you evaluate an increase in tourism development (in general, not just fishing tourism) in Socotra? Do you think that in the near future the island will be more open to tourism?

Appendix 2: Questions Asked to Fishermen Section 1—Fishing activities (1) When did you start fishing?

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(2) Is fishing your only occupation? (3) What type of fishing do you practice? When you go fishing do you stay out at night? (4) What type of vessel do you use? (5) If the vessel belongs to you, where do you keep it? Do you have a shelter? (6) Is your fishing equipment produced or fixed locally or is it imported? (7) What is the role of cooperatives? Do you work with one? (8) Do women have a role in fishing or in the preservation of seafood? (9) Are there traditional fishermen chants or poems? Would it be possible to have someone to perform it? Section 2—Fishing and tourism relation (1) Do you meet tourists or visitors around this area? Are they interested in your fishing activities? (2) What type of interactions do you have with tourists? Do you offer any service? Do you have an income from tourists? (3) Did you ever have issues or problems with tourists? (4) Would you be available to host tourists when you carry out fishing activities, teaching them some local traditional fishing techniques or show them how you rapair equipment and prepare seafood for preservation?

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Factors Beyond Preserving the Socotri Intangible Heritage: A Qualitative Study Wagdi Rashad Ali Bin-Hady

1 Introduction Like any society, the Socotris try to preserve their inherited traditions and pass them on throughout the coming generations. It is widely accepted that cultural heritages preserve the identity of people who practiced them (Petronela, 2016). In 2008, Socotra Island was considered by UNESCO a World Heritage Site for its global value. Such consideration urges many people to explore the island and enjoy some of its beauty. Socotra Island has been of interest to many researchers over the years (Batelka, 2012; Brown & Mies, 2012; Damme & Banfield, 2011; Madˇera et al., 2019). The plethora of previous studies on Socotra were scientifically on natural heritage, i.e., the organisms, plants, or the people there (Brown & Mies, 2012; Damme & Banfield, 2011; Madˇera et al., 2019). Other studies paid attention to tangible heritage like the linguistic features of the Socotri language (Nakano, 1986), or the proverbs used by the Socotris (Morris, 2021; Suleiman, 2021). On the other hand, the intangible heritage of Socotra remains unexplored. To the researcher’s knowledge, two expeditions had explored the lifestyles of the Socotris a long time ago. One of them is the Oxford expeditions to Socotra in 1958 (Botting, 1958), and the Russian expeditions to Socotra in 1993 (Naumkin, 1993). These studies reported the lifestyles of the Socotri people in two different decades, however, the current study explores the factors which participate in preserving the intangible traditions of the Socotris after decades of development, integration, openness, and immigration. To the researcher’s knowledge, there is no previous study that explores the factors that save the Socotri tradition and norms from being endangered. This urges the researcher to bridge this gap and uncover some secrets which may be reinforced to preserve traditions and norms. W. R. A. Bin-Hady (B) Department of English, College of Education-Socotra, Hadhramout University, Hadiboo, Yemen e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 N. Slak Valek and A. A. Zedan (eds.), A Social View of Socotra Island, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4358-6_5

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Socotra has been embracing many people from different social backgrounds for many years. It is widely believed that the greater the integration with different cultures, the greater the loss of one’s own traditions. Yet, the integrations of the migrants/immigrants, or tourists affect the Socotri traditions and norms in some ways and under some circumstances. Firstly, many Yemeni people migrated to Socotra Island, searching for peace (Norbert, 2021). Those migrants integrate with the Socotri indigenous people. Such integration for a long time surely affects the lifestyle of the Socotris’ traditions and norms. Secondly, as a World Heritage place, many tourists from the world over come to Socotra to enjoy (Sharon, 2022), explore, and study some of its uniqueness (Batelka, 2012; Brown & Mies, 2012; Naumkin, 1993) or adventure this amazing island (Norbert, 2021). Hence, another challenge for the Socotri traditions may result from the contact between those people who work in tourism with western traditions. Thirdly, the effect may be resulted because of the immigration of the Socotra people, whether inside Yemen or to other countries. They surely got integrated with different cultural heritages, and constantly staying in a setting different than their own modifies some of those migrants’ lifestyles and cultural heritage, changes which they may come back with and practice in their home society. Yet, a query may arise as to what makes this society preserve its traditions, however the integration of many migrants with various cultural backgrounds. Thus, the current study tries to uncover some of the factors which help preserve the Socotri traditions along the years of integration with people from different cultural backgrounds. Moreover, the study also explores how the Socotri people perceive the new traditions that invade their society. The study answers the following questions: 1. What are the economic, political, social and cultural factors that help preserve the Socotri intangible cultural heritage? 2. How do Socotris perceive the new traditions that invade their society? 3. What are some of the traditions and norms that are still in use and which are dead in the Socotri society?

2 Literature Review The term tradition is defined by Cambridge English Dictionary (2018) as “a belief, principle, or way of acting that people in a particular society or group have continued to follow for a long time, or all of these beliefs, etc.”. Shils (1981) affirms that tradition “includes material objects, beliefs about all sorts…the product of physical processes in the external or exclusively the result of ecological and physiological necessity”, (p. 12). Likely, cultural heritage is defined by Idris et al. (2016) as “a symbol spiritual and intellectual wealth of a civilization, while intangible cultural heritage is associated to tradition and living expressions” (p. 1). It constructs the identity of the group of people. Likely, cultural heritage refers according to Petronela (2016) to “the wealth of knowledge and skills that is transmitted from one generation to the next ones” (p. 731).

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Bassa and Kiss (2011) stated that traditions are inherited and transmitted from parents to children in which the parents teach their children the practicing of their native folklore in time and place. They designed some teacher techniques for training new generations on preserving culture because of the agreed-on fact that practicing and mastering old traditions are minimized. Such training techniques may be used efficiently to help the new generation practicing and mastering their old traditions. Also, 7th Diversity Matters (2014) affirmed the importance of transmitting and communicating the cultural heritages to the new generation rather than producing them through dancing, singing, or crafting, ensuring safeguarding them. Furthermore, Petronela (2016) concluded that preserving cultural heritages contributed to the channel of communication between the past, present, and future. They built understanding and strengthened the relationship among people. Cultural heritage is divided into three types: tangible culture, intangible culture, and natural heritage. The first type, i.e., tangible culture, comprises artifacts, works of art, building and books, etc. The second type, i.e., the intangible culture which includes oral expressions, festivals, rituals, arts, crafts, etc., that are transferred to people from their ancestors and shared with their descendants. Natural heritage, is the third type, such as natural views, and biodiversity (7th Diversity Matters, 2014). Intangible cultural heritage preservation is the focus of this study. Intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is considered a newly coined concept and was adopted by UNISCIO in 2003. It refers to living traditions associated with social identity (Alivizatou-Barakou et al., 2017). Likely, ICH is comprehended as “a traditional culture, learning process and technique development that comprises legends, performances, social customs, ceremonies and festivals and traditional arts” (Idris et al., 2016, p. 7). Naumkin (1993) believed that studying the Socotri folklore reveals the veil of the past of Yemen as one of the countries that witnessed the birth of great civilizations. Likewise, Socotra folklore has accumulated and contains more, such as that brought by the Mahris and expatriates to the island. Al-Anbali (2007) confirmed that there are many cultural heritages that Socotris are still celebrating, including Folk songs, dances, and arts which are usually practiced when gathering at the wedding and gifting the groom with sheep, cows, and camels. People also dance and enjoy competitions that occur between poets. Hua (2010) affirmed that cultural heritage studies did not focus on building a theoretical frameworks and previous approaches contradict one another. Some studies tried to set up frameworks for the study of safeguarding ICH. Some depended on social capital (Drápala, 2020). Drápala (2020) defined social capital as “an imaginary bridge offering challenges and paths for the further direction of the study of intangible cultural heritage in the form of research approached in a trans-disciplinary fashion” (p. 132). Furthermore, this approach internalized the intangible culture within its social, political, economics context of the bearers (Drápala, 2020). Cultural capital is also another approach obtained by (Meissner, 2017). Social cultural comprises acts, fact’ and the ‘artifact’. Still other studies applied cultural citizen as a framework to proceed their investigations (Yan & Chiou, 2021). However, the last two approaches

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focused on the role of education in contributing to save the ICH. Meissner (2017) discussed three types of capital, i.e., economic, social and cultural capitals. Besides, Ursu et al. (2022) confirmed that all UNISCO convention on ICT focused on the social, political and economic factors to preserve ICH. A number of studies gauged the preservation of cultural heritage in various countries from different dimensions (DeSilvey & Harrison, 2020; Hani et al., 2012; Haraldson, 1983; Omeluzor et al., 2014; Onyima, 2016; Rybakov et al., 2021; Sukdee et al., 2020; Wang, 2019). Wang (2019) investigated a technique for preserving Indonesian cultural heritage in education. The study followed the actor-network theory. The study reached some findings, including the connection of cultural heritage with the social environment of the people; the success of educational cultural heritage must be linked with many governmental and private sectors efforts like industry, research institutions, museums, and schools; and being aware of cultural heritage participates positively in developing the education. Furthermore, Onyima (2016) demonstrated, using a functional perspective, the cultural heritage of Nigeria. The study reported some of the major challenges which obstructed preserving the cultural heritage including human activities like robing museums, developmental activities, Christianity, exploration of arts, and others. Moreover, DeSilvey and Harrison (2020) investigated the tasks done to avoid social and cultural losses. The study suggested three themes for studying heritage preservation, including inevitability, politics, and the potential of losses to be implemented in further research studies. Omeluzor et al. (2014) analyzed the impact of using information and communication technology (ICT) to preserve African traditions. The study reported the importance of using ICT in preserving the African tradition for the upcoming generations. Furthermore, Hani et al. (2012) explored the preservation of the cultural heritage of Saung Angklung Udjo (SAU), through the creative industry. The study showed some creative industry factors that successfully contributed to preserving the SAU traditions based on cultural production or the practice of some professions to some businesses based on similar SAU traditions. Likely, Sukdee et al. (2020) examined the factors that help preserve the culture of Thai undergraduate students. The study obtained 210 students at Thailand National Sport University. The study grouped four main factors: engaging students in cultural tasks, sources for cultural data, paying attention and being valuable to culture, and awareness of cultural information. The literary review will be concluded by mentioning to the new traditions that inter to the society. New traditions will be defined as any practice that overspreads in a certain society and was not practiced by previous generation. They differ from society into another. Hussain (2016) affirmed that some new customs entered to the Qatari society due to the expatriates the overspread the country. She identified that youths are the most social group which were affected by such intrusive traditions like dressing habits, food and some wrong practices. Likewise, Al Habsiyya (2020) mentioned that many foreign traditions appeared in our Arab societies in general and the Omani society in particular, and one of such customs is the societal luxury that

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entered and spread in our societies like wildfire. In the Socotri society, some new intrusive traditions may appeared naturally as a result of development like communal services while other due to the integration with people from other cultural like food habits, dress and social ties.

3 Methods 3.1 Research Design A qualitative research design was attained in this study. Qualitative research enables the researcher to explore the phenomenon from different perspectives, which cooperate in providing deeper discerptions and solutions (Merriam et al., 2019). This study is guided by Drápala (2020) social capital framework for studying the social and cultural, economic, political factors which participates in safeguarding the Socotri intangible heritage.

3.2 Participants The study collected data from a sample of 20 Socotri native participants. They were interested in the field of Socotri language, traditions, and heritage to collect some information to answer the queries. The participants were purposively selected to answer the research questions. Criteria used for the selection are interest, collaboration, and knowledge in the fields. The participants included both males and females. They belong to different fields of life experiences, including instructors, teachers, lawyers, journalists, and students. They have explained the purpose of the research, and those who were interested and willing agreed to share their ideas with the researcher. Furthermore, the participants were also told to consult their parents and grandparents while answering the questionnaire. For research ethics, the researcher asked the consent of the participants before sharing the questionnaire with them; he also assured the participants that their responses will be presented in the study anonymously, no names will be mentioned. Those who agreed to participate in the study sent back the questionnaire, whereas the others who did not agree, the researcher respected their privacy and avoid contacting them.

3.3 Instrument An open-ended questionnaire was shared with the assigned volunteers. The questionnaire consisted of three questions developed by the researcher and sent to

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three professors in the field of cultural studies for face validity. They gave some comments that developed the clarity of the questions. The participants were given enough time to answer the questionnaire precisely and at their own pace. The process of data collection continued for 6 months, starting from (September 15, 2021, to March 15, 2022).

3.4 Procedures The questionnaire questions were written in both English along with Arabic languages as the majority of the participants did not have knowledge of English. The three open-ended questions were also transformed into different formatting, including Microsoft Word documents, and as a post on Facebook in which the Socotri participants who have knowledge about the topic of Socotri intangible traditions were tagged. Likely, the questions were transferred into WhatsApp and shared with those people who possessed the qualities mentioned previously. It is hoped that they questionnaire formatting could please every participant and encourage them to answer it. For those who use Laptops, a Mics Word document was shared with them, the participants who are Facebook fans, can write their answer and submit it to the researcher viz-a-viz Messenger, and finally, those who use WhatsApp, can write their answers via WhatsApp and send it over to the researcher via WhatsApp. The researcher continuously followed them up, however, the number of responses was limited. The researcher respected their privacy. One important point to focus on is that participants who were contacted were requested to ask their relatives, family members, and ancestors about the questions and write their answers down and submit them to the researcher as soon as they collected answers to the three questions.

3.5 Data Analysis The collected data were cleaned and translated into English by the researcher himself. One response was transcribed because the answer was a recording of an old man who was interviewed by his grandson. Content analysis procedures were obtained for the analysis of the data and to ensure the preservation and trustworthiness of the results. This study follows the steps mentioned by Bengtsson (2016) for analyzing the raw data. They are: Decontextualization, the researcher reads the participants’ responses to each question to understand what they want to say. After precise reading, the responses were themed into phrases, or sentences. after that, the sentences were read and reread precisely. Coding was used to assign the participants from 1 to 20. The word Participant was attached to the number that was obtained to refer to the participants of the study (Participants 1–20). He then created codes for their answers and wrote them on a new page. Recontextualization: In this stage, two weeks after completing the first stage, the researcher compared the newly coded and the old ones

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Preserving intangible culture

Economical factors

Social and cultural factors

Political factors

Fig. 1 Data analysis framework based on social cultural framework

to check the reliability of the first coding. Valid codes were confirmed while unrelated codes were omitted. In this stage, the researcher also checked if any content unit in the raw data was not coded. Categorization: Similar responses were set together under one theme. For the first research question, the participants’ responses were analyzed under three themes based on the social capital framework (Fig. 1). Each theme consists of two or three quoted answers to support the theme. For the RQ2, many themes were established. participants’ responses were listed under five related paragraphs. Finally, the responses to the third question were listed under two sub-categories: alive and dead traditions. Every sub-section includes many subthemes. Finally, the compilation of the codes was presented under each research question in the results section.

4 Results RQ1: What are the economic, political, social, and cultural factors that help preserve the Socotri intangible cultural heritage? There are many factors that help preserve the Socotri traditions from loss, including the awareness of the Socotris on their traditions, the use of Socotri language among Socotris, the limited incomes of Socotri people, which does not support luxurious life, and the geographical distance of Socotra and its remoteness of direct contact with other Yemeni governorates. They will be listed under three factors.

4.1 Economic Factors Practicing the ancestors’ crafts like grazing sheep, growing and caring for palm trees, and fishing are still practiced in Socotra. The Socotri people practice some crafts because they are their source of income; for example, one of the participants reported: “New generations inherited some crafts from their ancestors until they became customs. These (crafts) customs have always been a source of income for them, and from these works, they exported some crops and extracts of some plants

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such as frankincense and incense” (Participant 9). Furthermore, other participants believed that due to the high expenses of city life, some people preferred to stay in villages which makes those people connected with their traditions. “People took an interest in their agricultural and animal heritage. They live in their rural villages because of the difficulty of living in cities, high prices, and many political and health problems. Thus, living in the villages made them cling to many of their customs and help safeguard them,” (Participants 11, reported). Still, another participant affirmed that “One of the economic factors that preserved Socotri customs and traditions is the preservation of old-style buildings in various regions of the island,” (Participant 12).

4.2 Political Factors Some of the participants thought that the successive tribal Soutanes and authorities encouraged and notably participated in preserving the Socotri traditions. “The authority encourages the safeguarding of such customs and urges the people to practice them, as some Sultans do along the phases of Socotra history,” (Participant 6). Similarly, they believed that the Afrari Soutanes played a major role for the safeguarding of the traditions, “As for the political aspect, it is what the people have known since the Afrar regime to respect the regime and adherence to it throughout history. Furthermore, the Socotri social cohesion has maintained its general peace and the prevailing social solidarity contributed in safeguarding the Socotri traditions,” (Participant 8).

4.3 Social and Cultural Factors It is reported that social and cultural factors that help safeguard the Socotri traditions stem from the practice of such traditions on various occasions, like in marriage, circumcision, and in attending funerals to give condolence, and their philosophy of obligating their sons to marry Socotri girls and using the Socotri language. Some participants stated that the gathering of Socotris in sadness and happiness urges them to practice their traditions therefore making these traditions familiar to the new generation. “Practicing in the Socotri customs on some occasions such as circumcisions, weddings, and giving condolence on the death of a person help in safeguarding our traditions,” (Participant 6). Another asserted, “One of the main factors that contributed a lot to preserving the social fabric in Socotra is family solidarity and the help of parents and relatives among themselves in the sadness and the joys,” (Participant 15). Others believed that the societal preference of encouraging young men to marry Socotri girls contributed to the preservation of the Socotri traditions. One participant reported, “Old social aspect contributed to the preservation of customs, for example, by not allowing the men to marry from outside fearing that

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he will bring new customs through his wife to the island,” (Participant 10). Similarly, another stated, “Among the social factors is the preservation of the marriage of relatives from within the island, and among the cultural factors is the preservation of the cultural heritage on the occasions that are held on the island of folk dance and others,” (Participant 12). Finally, still, others confirmed that the remoteness of Socotra Island, the Socotri language, and the intangible heritages preserved their traditions, stating that, “Socotra is a tribal society and is divided into tribes and regions, as well as the societal environment of the Socotra society and geographical isolation from the mainland. In addition to the cultural factor represented in the Socotri language, the intangible heritage, the poetry, and the Socotri proverbs, etc., helped preserve the Socotri customs and traditions,” (Participant 7). RQ2: How do you perceive the new traditions that invade your society? There are various opinions regarding how Socotris perceive the new traditions. Some accept the new coming traditions. Others said that people of the city accept the intrusive tradition while rural people do not accept them. Still, some say the new generation accepts the intrusive tradition while elderly people do not. Some believed that they accept the good traditions and share the Socotri traditions with others. One stated, “I think we have to respect some of the new traditions; those won’t affect our traditions on one side, and we have to keep and show our tradition to other people on the other,” (Participant 1). Another person made the Islamic Sharia a measurement for accepting or rejecting the new traditions, stating, “The new extraneous customs that did not violate the Sharia were accepted, and the attempt to reject the extraneous bad habits like clothing and the imitation of Western haircuts,” (Participant 12). Different generations and geographical area residents have different points of view regarding accepting the new traditions. Old people who lived in cities still yearned for their native traditions, whereas the new generation considered their traditions as a source of retardation; one stated, “In this regard, we can talk about two types of response to this issue: the first: the model of age groups who are forty and over accept new habits forcibly and still yearn for the old habits and remember them at all times while gathering. The second type rejects the old traditions and considers them pure backwardness and ignorance. They accept new traditions with passion and love,” (Participant 11). Moreover, city residents accept the new traditions while villagers rejected them; one confirmed, “Due to the integration of part of the Socotri society with the urban society, that is, the inhabitants of the cities, as well as the intrusive civilization from outside Socotra, until part of the inhabitants of the cities accept of extraneous customs and neglect of rural customs and traditions. Acceptance differs from the Bedouin people from those living in the cities,” (Participant 4). Similarly, another confirmed that “People accept some of the costumes without affecting the general character of Socotra, and this actually happened in the capital only, which began to be affected by a mixture of different customs, which emerged through the influx of people to it from most of the governorates of Yemen, but other villages have preserved their social fabric,” (Participant 8). Some believed that some non-Socotri costumes enforce themselves and become parts of the Socotri life due to societal integration with newcomers to the island. One

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stated, “Civilizational openness and social communication became the biggest factor that contributed to the imposition of some customs on the Socotri society, as well as the elimination of some other customs,” (Participant 6). Another stated, “Many new customs began to infiltrate the Socotri community, especially since the beginning of this century, and with the days, they have become part of the daily habits, such as the habit of chewing Qat, which is, of course, unpleasant for all Socotris, even for those who also addicted in from Socotris,” (Participant 5). A third stated, “We accepted the new habits, which became a part of our lives, caused by openness and the reception of new and alien customs to the island, and it became part of daily life, adding quality education in schools and universities, and the entry of the island’s people into it. The countryside and their daily dealings with these habits, and they became an integral part of their lives,” (Participant 19). Those who accepted the new traditions are reported because of the ignorance of society. One reported, “There are things extraneous to Socotra society, both positive and negative, and we note the rapid acceptance of society due to a large amount of illiteracy,” (Participant 15). Another reported that accepting the new habits facilities the life of the people, stating, “Some Socotris accept the new customs that have appeared as a normal thing to facilitate life in the current situation,” (Participant 18). RQ3: What are some of the traditions and norms that are still in use and some others which dead in the Socotri society? The participants’ responses to this question will be classified under two main categories, alive and dead Socotri traditions. Alive traditions Among the alive Socotri traditions are greeting each other by nose, the way of slaying animals, Fiasa (praying to Allah to bless them with rain), working in pottery, Alrafada, the girls still do not attend wedding parties, societal generosity, and legalizing tribal low for grazing. “One of the remaining customs is greeting among the Socotri people with their noses,” (Participant 6). Another added, “Socotri greeting each other by their noses,” (Participant 1). Generosity is still famous in Socotra; Socotris gift sheep to their relatives who get married. One participant said, “One of the customs and traditions that still exist is providing sheep, cows or camels during the wedding celebrations, each according to his capabilities, his position in the tribe,” (Participant 2). Furthermore, they exaggerate in their honoring of the guests. One reported, “Societal generosity is a characteristic prevalent among the general population, who are very keen on to honor the guest with excessive respect and hospitality in spite of the widespread of poverty,” (Participant 3). Socotra still practices their own ways in slaying the animals. One participant stated, “Slaughtering in a special way which often separates the meat from the bones,” (Participant 1). Another added, “The Socotri shepherds have special ways of slaughtering their animals,” (Participant 6).

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The Socotra people built and practiced their own laws for example, “Laws of utilizing tree timber from custom regulating trees and how to preserve trees and island plants,” (Participant 4). Another participant confirmed that, “Mutual respect between people in the markets and public places, despite the presence of some transactions on Socotra, including fraud in the markets and practiced by some expatriates, which are transactions that some people in Socotra hate,” (Participant 8). Moreover, girls are not attending weddings. One stated, “Single girls do not attend the wedding,” (Participant 2). Socotri Folklore is still noticeable. A participant confirmed, “Among the customs that are still naturally practiced on the island are folk dances on feasts and folk festivals, in which popular competitions are held in Socotra poetry called (rebuke), and greeting on the nose between men,” (Participant 12). “The Socotri shepherds adorn themselves with Socotri knives,” (Participant 6, added). Some polytheistic costumes are still practiced. For example, “One of the customs that is still practiced in Socotra, especially in the countryside, is (Fesn), which means in Arabic when the rains are late, the tribes gather and gather sheep and pray to God for relief and mercy for humans and animals, and then slaughter the sheep while drawing closer to God Almighty,” (Participant 19).

4.4 Dead Traditions Among the dead traditions are circumcising of males during their adolescence, girls were not taken their permissions about marriage, watch crafts and mythical beliefs, females set with non-mahram males, and some others belonging to hospitality.

4.5 Circumcision It is stated, “Among the customs that lost: Circumcision of males and their age may reach adolescence,” (Participant 2). “A boy is circumcised when he is over 15 years old” (Participant 16). Similarly, another confirmed that “They used to circumcise children when they were of middle age,” (Participant 18). “In the past, circumcising boys occurred in front of many people,” (Participant 20).

4.6 Marriage In the seventies, marriage matters were kept secret, and the bride was not told about it, so she did not know who her husband was, until the marriage took place and the groom entered into her house to take her. “The bride was not told previously about the wedding. She left the house in the morning until the sunset came back. She was

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suddenly carried into the room, and there she was informed of her marriage and her husband” (Participant 16, reported). “The traditional Socotri weds is endangered,” (Participants 20).

4.7 Female’s Customs Some of the Socotri females’ customs have been endangered. They gathered with strangers and did not wear the veil. “In the past, there was no veil for women, yet, greeting and shaking hands with a stranger was acceptable, but this stopped completely. Now the woman’s commitment to wear the veil. Likewise, it is not permissible for an unmarried girl to put on make-up until her marriage,” (Participant 19). Another participant believed that “It was in the time of the Socotris, it was not a habit, but the nature of their life and the kindness of their souls. Females set with non-mahram males by gathering, sitting, and practicing their daily lives with those they knew and did not. Just in anyone’s house you can stay and eat. But those things are no longer in the present due to the entry of civilizations, concepts, and customs to the island, and the people’s souls and intentions have gradually changed simply” (Participant 3).

4.8 Witchcraft Habits Some of the customs and traditions that have faded with the time passage and the entry of other factors are as follows: One stated, “In a not so long time ago, there was a so-called Socotra (Makalhi), meaning if a person was found possessed by a jinni, he would be brought to this person to remove what he had of possession! We seek refuge in Allah from polytheism,” (Participant 5). Another confirmed that, “Among the customs that are completely lost, for example, there was a folk physician called in Socotra (Makalhi), who performed folk medicine and made a voice with a group of hesitation after him and the patient is placed in the middle and believes that he expels demons from him,” (Participant 19). Moreover, a third affirmed that, “The habit of throwing food to Haidab (a creature of the Muslim jinn as Socotris believe) and the person introduces himself when moving to a new house or staying in one of the relatives’ homes in which these creatures are present,” (Participant 5).

4.9 Ceremonies Celebrations nowadays in Socotra are not the same as they were before two or three decades. “The absence of many wedding ceremonies, circumcision, and completing reciting the Qur’an sessions, as many entertainment facilities accompanying these

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parties were previously held,” (Participant 11). “Among the habits that have faded and lost is going out to the streets and playing the drum when a lunar or solar eclipse occurs,” (Participant 12). “Costumes practiced by some Socotra people in the wedding, such as shouting and jumping high when dancing,” (Participant 2).

4.10 Dressing and Cooking It is believed that both male and females change their dress. One stated, “The wearing of boys and girls to the old Socotra dress, are some of the customs,” (Participant 2). Another participant added, “There was a special dress for women and lost with time,” (Participant 18). Furthermore, people in the past used to cook with pottery vessels. One said, “Cooking food with pottery utensils, such as boiling milk with the so-called Shadhar is not found nowadays,” (Participant 2). Finally, some habits were lost like, “Staying with the guest during the meal till he finishes eating in some families is not sill found anymore,” (Participant 1 added).

5 Discussion This study sought answers to three queries associated with identifying the factors that help save the Socotri intangible traditions; it also deeply explored how the Socotri indigenous people perceive the intrusive traditions that become part of their society. Finally, it lists some of the aboriginal traditions that are still alive and the ones which died. Some of the factors that help preserve the Socotri traditions are social/cultural like the tribal fabric connections, gathering at the time of wedding or funeral, gifting the groom with sheep on the day of marriage, visiting relatives, and so on. Socotri language is reported to be among the important factors which preserve the Socotri traditions. Furthermore, the isolation of Socotra from other Yemeni governorates is another factor. Riccardi et al. (2020) claimed that the seasonal monsoon keeps the island’s biodiversity and preserves the culture of the people. To begin with the first query, the study found that economic, social/cultural, and political factors coalesce together in preserving the Socotri intangible traditions. Economic factors include the practice of ancestors’ crafts like fishing, pottering, and growing and planting trees. These crafts, which are amongst their aboriginal traditions, provide a sufficient source of income that Socotri people earned. Such a level of income only allows for buying the necessary commodities; thus, no rooms were found for luxurious life, which changed the simplicity of the people. Al Habsiyya (2020) affirmed that societal luxury is amongst the many foreign traditions appeared in our Arab societies; it spreads in our societies like wildfire. Furthermore, some people still work with traditional crafts like shepherding, fishing, growing palm trees, and

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so on. Such craft made the Socotri people connect with their heritage and continued practicing the social lifestyles, customs, and traditions. Botting (1958) stated that amongst the famous Socotri products sold to merchants from Mukalla, Aden, and other places are ghee, aloes, dried shark, pottery, pearls, rugs, tobacco, etc. Among the political factors that preserve the Socotri traditions is the long-standing commitment of the Socotri authorities to the protection of the heritage. Moreover, the level of independence that the Socotri people have enjoyed has minimized the florigen interference and changed its traditions. DeSilvey and Harrison (2020) suggested the importance of politics in preserving heritage from loss. Regarding the social factors, the study found that amongst the social and cultural factors that help safeguarding the Socotri traditions stem from the practice of such traditions on occasions, like marriage, circumcision, and in attending funerals to give condolence, their philosophy in obligating their sons to marry Socotri girls and using the Socotri language. Morris (2021) stated that some Socotris are still proud of their traditions and doing their best to preserve what remains from their past. Furthermore, a new release of a festival took the name of Sheikh Zaid festival for the Socotri traditions. According to Hussen (2021), this festival has been prepared, organized, and funded by Khalifa institution for humanitarian aid. The festival is launched in its 5th version. It exhibits various activities associated with the Socotri traditions. The festival aims to encourage the Socotris to keep and be proud of their heritage as there were some aspects of the Socotri literature is being lost, therefore, this festival comes to relive them. Among such traditions are the marriages between relatives. Naumkin (1993) reported that marriages between relatives, especially cousins, are preferable in Socotra; some tribes considered this marriage obligatory. Al-Anbali (2007) confirmed that the Socotri tribesmen gift the groom with sheep during the wedding party. They also bring with them ghee and other social food, which is a tradition in Socotra. The second query set in the study explored the acceptance of the Socotri people to the new traditions. The study found that closer to the capital city, the more people accept the new traditions. The older the person, the more they reject the new traditions. Some others believe it is important to open up to others and get some of their traditions while preserving your own. Another participant mentioned that the old generation is interested in practicing their traditions on some occasions like marriage, Eids, and others, whereas the new generation perceives the Socotri traditions as inferior and should be substituted by others. Still, another person said that we accept all traditions which do not contradict Islamic heritage and resist every intrusive tradition which is aside from Islam. accepting new traditions may be a reason for developing the Socotris who stayed isolated for a long time. Botting (1958) described the Socotris, saying “Their culture has remained at a Stone Age level? they have no knowledge of metal making, or of the pot” (p. 204). Finally, the study found that amongst the Socotri preserved traditions are hosting the guests, and gifting grooms with sheep on their weds. Naumkin (1993) narrated that he was invited to a Socotri wed and asked the groom about the dowry. He

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was told that in Socotra, people help each other by gifting sheep during weddings. Furthermore, the study reported that Socotri girls were not allowed to attend wed parties or wear decorative clothes. Other traditions which are still preserved are regulating grazing laws, Fiasa (praying to Allah to bless them with rain) working with pottery, slaughtering in a Socotri way which often separates the meat from the bones, greeting each other with their noses, and so on. These findings showed us that the Socotri society is a conservative Muslim society. Norbert (2021) affirmed the conservatives of the Socotris. Missick (2010) reported that the strength of the Socotri tribal system mentioning that no one even cut a tree without consulting the Shaikh. Some of the above-mentioned traditions are genuine Arabic and Islamic traditions like hosting and taking extensive care of guests and also minimizing the cost of marriage through gifting the groom with sheep needed for preparing food for the people during the wedding party. Ibnulyemen (2017) stated that Yemenis are generous. They help whatever needs a hand. They prepared the best food for their guests or invitees. While other ruminant traditions came from Himyarites and Sabaeans beliefs, for example, worshiping stars. The study revealed that Socotris still gather with their sheep whenever rain does not fall at its usual times. This finding is confirmed by Naumkin (1993), who reported that mountainous Socotris gather during the time of sundown, chatting about their religious songs and slaying their sheep when rain does not fall. mentioning that they glorify the moon as many old Arabs did. Moreover, Botting (1958) stated that however, Socotris became Muslims, they practiced pagan acts like witchcraft. On the other hand, the study reported some of the dead traditions like circumcision of boys when they are over 15 years old, witchcraft and sorcery, and gathering between males and females who are non-mahram. Naumkin (1993) stated that in Socotra, there are skilled magicians who tell the fortune depending on the stars and planets. Socotris believe that magicians are able to know the fate of man and bring down rain and send disease to people and animals. Regarding female interaction, nowadays, Socotri females are not allowed, anymore, to appear in front of foreigners. Norbert (2021) reported that Socotri people are conservative. Females wear the veil (burqa) and do not interact with foreigners. They also stay at home. This study revealed that marriage matters in Socotra were kept secret; the brides were not told about their marriage, so that she did not know who her husband is, until the marriage took place and the bride entered into her husband. This finding is confirmed by Naumkin (1993) that the bride in Socotra was taken by her brother for a visit and would come home at night. The family hides everything about the bride till night when the groom came to take her home. To sum up, it is the individual themselves who participate in preserving the Socotri traditions. No institutional campaigns try to preserve such customs from loss. In other countries, for example in Indonesia, Wang (2019) explored the role of education in safeguarding the Indonesian cultural heritage. Onyima (2016) reported that the major challenges for preserving the Nigerian heritage arise from human and developmental activities. The first include robbing museum, and the former includes the exploration

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of arts and religious activities. Sukdee et al. (2020) reached four factors that participated in saving Thai heritage, including engaging students in cultural tasks, sources for cultural data, paying attention and being valuable of culture, and awareness of cultural information. The researcher found that Socotris practice some crafts which are as a source of income and a factor for saving their traditions. This finding is in line with the study of Hani et al. (2012), who found some creative industrial factors that successfully contributed to preserving the SAU traditions based on cultural production or the practice of some professions to some businesses based on similar SAU traditions. Finally, Omeluzor et al. (2014) found the importance of using ICT in preserving the African tradition for the upcoming generations.

6 Conclusion Findings of this study are important for consolidating in safeguarding the Socotri intangible heritages. Parents, Sheikhs and tribes leaders are required in consolidating the process of transmissions heritages to the new generation by the process of practice of such ICH in different festivals and celebrations. Furthermore, politicians and policy makers are also required to pay more attention in their ways, for example to support the establishment of centre for preserving the Socotri language and document traditions to preserve for the upcoming generations. Likewise, civilians are also required to practice their ancestors’ crafts which are still practiced and develop their use all over the island to connect the new generation with their past. People should also continue their connection with their rural hometown. Young and adult Socotris should be proud of their identity and set with elders to learn from them about their traditions. It is recommended that Socotri society to accept and consolidate positive intrusive traditions while negative should be fought by the whole society. In the same veins, as some of dead traditions were considered negative due to their connection to witchcraft or the interactions of females with males, such dead may have positive consequences on the Socotri conservative society. This study calls for new residents to respects the available heritages and try to adapt themselves in ways that do not change the societal habits. Tour agencies in Socotra should regulate some restrictions for tourists coming to the Island to respect the conservativeness of the Socotri people. Some limitations that incorporated this study stem from the nature of the topic and are associated with just using one method of data collection, that is the survey. Such a topic is very sensitive to many people. The researcher contacted many friends and colleagues while collecting the data, and the majority of them hesitated to respond to answering the questionnaire. This revealed the sensitivity of the topic. Furthermore, this study obtained one open-ended survey to collect data, future studies are recommended to use the observation (focused group) interview with old aboriginal people while collecting the data. The researcher also recommended a further study to investigate the support of UNESCO in preserving the Socotri intangible

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traditions. Another study may focus on the attitudes of Socotri people regarding the dead traditions which connected with craftsmanship and integration of females with males in the society. Furthermore, the amount of programs and plans that Socotri governmental establishes to preserve the Socotri traditions need to be investigated.

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Language as Symbolic Power in the Linguistic and Semiotic Landscape of Socotra Island Sarah Hopkyns and Anwar A.H. Al-Athwary

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Introduction 

The remote island of Socotra, which is part of Yemen’s Socotra Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, is much studied for its natural wonders such as dragon blood trees, loggerhead turtles, and the Socotra warbler. At the time of writing, when entering the search term ‘Socotra Island/Soqotra Island’ into the popular academic website ‘Academia.edu’, 172 paper titles appeared. From these papers, the vast majority focused on sustainability, vegetation ecology, and water management systems. An aspect of Socotra Island which is decidedly under-researched is its current linguistic ecology and semiotic landscape. Socotra’s linguistic ecology is influenced by its geographical isolation from the Yemen mainland and other Gulf nations such as Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) together with its active history of migration and sociopolitical changes. The native language, Socotri/Soqotri (the spelling varies), is one of six non-Arabic Semitic Modern South Arabian Languages (MSAL) and it has traditionally had no written form (Gintsburg & Esposito, 2022). It is also a language which is classified as highly endangered (Elie, 2012) due to its reliance on oral communication, ideologies which situate it as detached from modernity, and the encroachment of more symbolically powerful languages such as Arabic and English. Increasingly, Arabic is used on the island as a lingua franca and language of education due to the migration of mainlanders to Socotra and governmental pressures placed on islanders to adopt a unified national identity via the Arabic language and Islam. In addition to Socotri and Arabic, the English language has a marked presence on the island due to a fast-growing eco-tourism industry. S. Hopkyns (*)  University of St Andrews, St Andrews, United Kingdom e-mail: [email protected] A.A.H. Al-Athwary  Najran University, Najran, Saudi Arabia e-mail: [email protected]

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 N. Slak Valek and A. Zedan (eds.), A Social View of Socotra Island, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4358-6_6

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There is a small but robust body of research on Socotra’s sociolinguistic situation (Alamhi, 2013; Elie, 2010, 2012, 2020; Gintsburg & Esposito, 2022; Peutz, 2011, 2018). Most existing studies, however, tend to focus on language as part of larger research projects on culture and politics on the island. Previous publications have explored the linguistic ecology of Socotra through anthropological (Peutz, 2011, 2018) and sociological lenses (Elie, 2010, 2012, 2020) as embedded in sociohistorical and sociopolitical dynamics. There has yet to be a study specifically looking at the representation of textual language(s) and semiotics, such as images and symbols, in public spaces on Socotra Island. In the Arabian Peninsula, previous linguistic landscaping (LL) studies which analyse language on signage and ‘language objects’ (Jaworski, 2015) have tended to take place in major cities and/or more accessible locations such as Sana’a, Yemen (Al-Athwary, 2012, 2014, 2017), Dubai, UAE (Hopkyns, 2021; Karolak, 2020), Abu Dhabi, UAE (Hopkyns, 2020a; Hopkyns & van den Hoven, 2022a, 2022b), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (Lacsina & Yeh, 2022), Manama, Bahrain (Gomaa, 2007), and Muscat, Oman (Buckingham, 2015; Buckingham & Al-Athwary, 2016). To the best of our knowledge, an exploration of Socotra’s linguistic landscape has not yet been undertaken. In the Gulf region, as with many other global contexts, the pace of change is fast, and semiotic landscapes often reflect both a ‘culture of change’ as well as dynamic ‘waves of change’ brought about by global and local events (Hopkyns & Zoghbor, 2022). As a consequence, both newly constructed and established signage act as ‘signs of the time’ (Kalman, 2020) as well as revealing language ideologies, linguistic hierarchies, symbolic power (Bourdieu, 1991; Kramsch, 2021) and levels of inclusion and belonging. A notable example of a wave of change which dramatically effected linguistic landscapes in the Gulf and worldwide is the flurry of COVID-19 signs erected in haste during the onset of the pandemic in spring 2020 (Zhu, 2021). In a variety of global settings, signage (both COVID19 related and otherwise) has been analysed in terms of how the content reflects language ideologies, belonging, inclusion and access (Hopkyns, 2022; Hopkyns & van den Hoven, ; Marshall, 2021; Zhu, 2021). Signage within Socotra Island’s complex linguistic ecology is particularly important to explore due to the precarious status of Socotri as an endangered language and the impact of migration and tourism on the island. This study thus aims to bridge two gaps in the current literature: Firstly, the chapter explores textual representation/lack of representation of language(s) in Socotra’s semiotic landscape. Secondly, the study, which takes place in the late-Covid (Martel, 2021) or post-pandemic period (2022) when tourism and travel were starting to resume following a period of global lockdowns, looks specifically at symbolic power of languages during this time. Such timing impacted some of the content on signage in terms of textual messages not previously seen. The chapter will begin with a brief description of the sociopolitical and sociolinguistic background of Socotra before discussing the key concepts relevant to the study: Linguistic landscaping and language as symbolic power. A linguistic landscaping study involving the analysis of a small corpus of signage will be presented. The chapter will then end with a discussion of key findings and implications.

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2  Research Background 2.1 Sociopolitical and Sociolinguistic Background Socotra Island has a complex linguistic reality due to changing demographics, language ideologies, and geopolitics. The Socotran people represent ‘a still vibrant ethno-linguistically indigenous minority community of Southern Arabia’ (Elie, 2012, p. 39). They speak ‘Socotri’, which is one of six preliterate Modern Southern Arabian (MSA) languages. There are seven major dialects of the Socotri language which include: (1) Urban Hadibo dialect, (2) North village Hadibo dialect, (3) Mountain dialects of Haghyer and Diksam, (4) Rural dialects in Momi, (5) Rural dialects of Qalansiya, (6) Coastal dialects of Noged, and (7) Dialects spoken on Abd-al-Kuri and Samha islands (Simeone-Senelle, 2003). Other MSA languages include Mahri, Hobyot, Shenri/Jibbali, Bathari and Harsusi, which are spoken in other areas of Yemen and Oman. From the six MSA languages, Socotri has traditionally been the most isolated in terms of its contact with Arabic as there were only a few Arabic speakers in small segments of coastal settlements until the independence of South Yemen in November 1967 (Elie, 2012). Between 1967 and 1990, a socialist Arabic-based polity regimentation process brought teachers, administrators, and military personnel to the island from mainland Yemen, who spoke Arabic (Elie, 2012). Thus, Arabic morphed from being a minority language on the island to a lingua franca with an increased textual presence on signage. Since Socotra became part of the Southern Yemen state, it has been undergoing a process of transformation. Especially after the unification of Northern and Southern Yemen to form the Republic of Yemen in 1990, Socotra has been gradually moving away from socio-economic marginality toward greater modernity. Part of the modernization process has involved mainland Yemeni and other Gulf nationals migrating to the island alongside attempts to bridge Socotra’s political relations with the mainland and foster an intercultural relationship between Socotrans and mainland Yemenis (Elie, 2012). Since the start of the Yemen civil war in 2014, whereby the Rashad al-Alimi-led Yemeni government and the Houthi armed movement both claim to constitute the official government of Yemen, Socotra has escaped relatively unscathed and detached from the main areas of conflict. However, a development in Socotra, which is linked to the war, is the increased influence of other nations on the island (Riedel, 2021), both in terms of charity initiatives and economic interest in the area (Fenton-Harvey, 2020). For example, through supporting Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council (STC), other Gulf nations have gained a degree of ‘de facto’ control on the island despite ongoing tensions around these dynamics. Active outsider involvement on the island has also taken the form of the building of an airbase and military base as well as developmental and humanitarian projects connected with the Red Crescent, amongst others. Such projects focus on the development of energy and water resources, infrastructure, education, and healthcare.

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Linguistically, Socotra has moved from a culture with a largely unwritten language (Socotri) to one of uneven and basic literacy. Although Socotri received an Arabic-based alphabet in 2014 (Romanov, 2014), it is rarely used (Gintsburg & Esposito, 2022) and is considered less prestigious than Arabic (Elie, 2020; Peutz, 2018). Arabic tends to be seen as the language of prestige due to its connection to Islam and to education. The prevalence of Arabic on the island is influencing Socotri with a new hybrid variety emerging (Gintsburg & Esposito, 2022). This variety represents a Koine or common language and is especially common in the capital, Hadibo (Morris, 2017). Arabization of the island, as seen through the teaching of Arabic in schools and the textual presence of Arabic, has impacted how Socotrans view their mother tongue. As Peutz (2011) noted when interviewing Socotran Bedouins about attitudes toward languages, Arabic was associated with outside influences such as North Yemen, education, and Islam, whereas Socotri was seen as a local and simple language which should not appear in writing. Peutz (2011) directly observed this stance when asking a Socotran guide to write an entry in a campground guestbook in his mother tongue. The guide obliged but later erased the entry. When asked about the eraser of the Socotri entry, he responded that ‘an inscription of the preliterate Socotri “dialect” amidst Arabic and other written languages would make Socotrans look “stupid”’ (p. 343). The sociopolitical and sociolinguistic dynamics described above have had, and continue to have, an impact on local identities. This has led to mixed alliances where Socatrans are caught between loyalty to their mother tongue and pressure/ desire to adopt a more socially respected and socially mobile national and religious identity as Arabic speakers. As Elie (2012) states, many Socotrans find themselves negotiating the balance between ‘cultural allegiance to community without being perceived by the mainland political authorities as compromising their social, cultural, and political attachments to the nation and state’ (p. 40). Elie (2012) goes on to describe this situation as an ‘existential dilemma’ whereby Socotrans bestride the ‘traditional/modernity and the island/mainland divides’ (p. 41). A further linguistic dynamic to Socotra, beside the tensions between Socotri and Arabic, is the increased presence of English on the island. With the opening of a modest international airport in 1999, tourists started to come to Socotra for eco-tourism, mainly from Europe (Burdick, 2007) and Gulf countries such as the UAE, thus adding an extra layer of complexity to the island’s linguistic ecology. In the year the airport opened, 140 travelers visited but the annual figure a decade later exceeded 2500 (Burdick, 2007). This number increased further after the Socotra Archipelago was named a UNESCO World heritage site in 2008 (Peutz, 2011). While the Covid-19 pandemic affected tourism dramatically in 2020 and 2021, visitors slowly returned in 2022, as documented on the many Socotra Island travel pages on social media. The island also attracts researchers from abroad, mainly owing to its eco-diversity. Due to the status of English as a global language, English tends to be the language used alongside Arabic for signage directed at tourists. Against this backdrop, the following section will explore the main concepts and theories relevant to the study: Linguistic landscaping and language as symbolic power.

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2.2 Linguistic Landscaping and Language as Symbolic Power The two most well-known definitions of linguistic landscapes (LL) include what Gorter (2019) calls the ‘short definition’ and the ‘list definition’ (p. 40). The short definition is ‘linguistic landscape refers to the visibility and salience of languages on public and commercial signs in any given territory or region’ (Landry & Bourhis, 1997, p. 23). The list definition is ‘the language of public road signs, advertising billboards, street names, place names, commercial shop signs, and public signs on government buildings combine to form the linguistic landscape of any given territory, region or urban agglomeration’ (Landry & Bourhis, 1997, p. 25). Especially the latter definition is appealing to researchers as it provides a convenient catalogue of six sign types to analyse (Gorter, 2019). However, in recent years definitions of LLs have become more complex and expansive and linguistic landscaping as an approach has broadened. In the last decade, there has been a move away from lingua-centric LL studies which focus primarily on visualized language on signs in public spaces, toward an expanded semiotic perspective on landscape and space. Here, an emphasis on broad semiotics points toward replacing the ‘language-in-the-landscape framework’ with the ‘landscape-as-the-language framework’ (Shohamy & Pennycook, 2022, p. 32). In this sense, meaning making in public spaces goes beyond the analysis of language(s) on fixed and immobile signs to include language and images on moving and multimodal objects such as vans, buses, clothing, audio announcements and digital messages, as well as smells and tastes which reflect semiotic landscapes. It is also recognized that social actors often construct ‘networks of meaning in space’ (Krompàk, 2022, p. 149). Here, Scollon and Scollon (2003) stress the importance of nexus analysis for LL research whereby attention is not only paid to semiotics on signage but also the social context in which signage is embedded, which often reveals language ideologies, linguistic hierarchies, and notions of belonging. In a move away from structuralist or descriptive approaches to LL where one piece of text has one meaning, LL studies are increasingly adopting ethnographic approaches whereby context of the sign, the social, political, and cultural history of the place, intended audience, and reactions of social actors are taken into consideration (Malinowski, 2009). Particularly relevant to contexts influenced by migration, such as Socotra Island, are issues of language rights, language representation, and symbolic power of languages in the semiotic landscape. Symbolic systems such as words, images, music, fashion, and ways of living are vessels of knowledge and communication which shape the way people construct meaning in the social world (Bourdieu, 1991). Kramsch (2021) defines symbolic power as ‘the power to construct social reality by creating and using symbols that give meaning to the social world’ (p. 5). In this sense, symbolic power constructs social reality that can include or exclude certain people or groups of people. From a post-structuralist approach, Blommaert (2005) stressed the importance of paying attention to the effects of symbolic

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power and what it does to people, groups, and societies. Especially in this age of nationalism, language plays an important role in the establishment of nation states (Park & Wee, 2017) and collective ‘national belonging’ is often the goal (May, 2017). Duchêne and Heller (2012) point out that in postcolonial contexts, which are part of a new globalized economy, power becomes ambivalent in the face of contradictory pressures of navigating pride and profit. In the context of Socotra, Elie (2012) summarizes, there are “conflicting attitudes among Socotrans vis-à-vis their mother tongue as an inalienably communal patrimony, their commitment to Arabic as a lingua franca of citizenship and religious identity, and their desire for English as an economic asset” (p. 41). In this statement, we see that languages symbolize more than just words but also impact identities. The symbolic power of dominant languages in the semiotic landscapes of multilingual settings has been found to affect levels of belonging and identities in contexts around the world. For example, in Goldstein-Havetzki’s (2012) study in the context of Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Israel, Arab school students were asked to document signs in their neighborhood. After seeing that Arabic had a very low representation in public spaces, students reacted emotionally by questioning their worth and fearing that their language may be lost. These emotions in turn led to the desire for activism in terms of campaigning for language rights in their district. In the context of the UAE, the symbolic power of its two dominant languages Arabic and English can be seen on COVID-19 signage and non-COVID-related signage, despite the nation’s linguistically diverse demographics (Hopkyns & van den Hoven, 2022a, 2022b). When third languages such as Korean and Tagalog appear on signage in the UAE, they are generally used sporadically or produced in smaller font. Such language representation, or lack of representation, impacts levels of belonging in a space as well as access to information for those not literate in the dominant languages (Karolak, 2020).

3  Methodology 3.1 Research Design Our research investigated the linguistic and semiotic landscape of Socotra Island during March–May 2022 with aim of exploring language representation and the symbolic power of languages. The study adopted an ethnographic approach to linguistic landscaping (LL) whereby the context, social, political, and cultural history, intended audience, function, and reactions of social actors to signage were analysed (Malinowski, 2009) along with the content of signs (language and semiotics). The following research questions guided the study: RQ1) What are the main features of Socotra Island’s linguistic and semiotic landscape? RQ2) How does the linguistic and semiotic landscape of Socotra Island reflect the symbolic power of languages?

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3.2 Procedure A corpus of signage was collected by two of our colleagues (see acknowledgements) who visited Socotra Island in spring 2022. Upon their return, we conducted informal interviews regarding social context surrounding the signage. Although we had intended to visit Socotra ourselves to collect the data first-hand, unfortunately, our plans were thwarted by a sudden change to our late May flights which meant a June return—the start of Socotra’s storm season. Flights during the fierce monsoon season are unpredictable with the risk of cancelations (Bradt & Booth, 2020). Thus, we experienced Socotra vicariously through our colleagues’ detailed descriptions, read widely on the island, and made plans to visit Socotra later in the year once the storm season had ended. In the meantime, we relied on a small but rich corpus of signage (n = 40) our colleagues had brought back. While a corpus of 40 signs is small compared to the corpora size used in many other linguistic landscaping studies, we were informed that signage on Socotra was sporadic compared to other places in the Gulf and elsewhere, which influenced the corpus size.

3.3 Researcher Positionality When conducting a linguistic landscaping study, a discussion of researcher positionality is important in order to understand insider and outsider roles of the researchers and how this may affect the analysis of the data. Insider roles refer to the emic approach, whereby the researcher shares the same culture as that being observed and outsider roles refer to the etic approach (Rose et al., 2020). The first author (Sarah) is a dual citizen of the UK and Canada (outsider role), but she has lived in the UAE for over 10 years and has researched the linguistic landscape of Abu Dhabi and Dubai (Hopkyns, 2020a, 2021; Hopkyns & van den Hoven, 2022a, 2022b). The second author (Anwar) is Yemeni and bilingual in Arabic and English which gives him an insider role. He has conducted numerous LL studies on the context of Sana’a, Yemen (Al-Athwary, 2012, 2014, 2017; Buckingham & Al-Athwary, 2016). As Gulf-based sociolinguists, we bring our ‘life capital’ (Consoli, 2022) to the analysis of the data by drawing on our knowledge and lived experiences in the region. Our shared interest in language as symbolic power in the Gulf region and the method of linguistic landscaping brought us together for the current study.

3.4 Data Analysis To analyse the signage, we used nexus analysis (Scollon & Scollon, 2003) whereby we not only looked at content but also considered geosemiotics

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(discourses in place) in terms of geography, physical spaces, and social context. Nexus analysis is part of a ‘critical turn’ (Barni & Bagna, 2015) in LL research where attention is paid to the position, size, space, images, readership, and sociolinguistic implications of messages (Shohamy, 2019). To conduct our analysis, we followed two steps: (1) Analysis of signage based on six categories (language(s), semiotics, sign maker, function, space, and place/social context); (2) Thematic analysis of signage to determine prominent themes within the data set. Step 1: Categorizing signage In Step 1, we analysed the corpus of signs according to six categories, adapted from the work of Cook (2022) and Ben-Rafael et al. (2006). Table 1 outlines the six categories used. The six categories outlined in Table 1 were used to analyse our corpus of signage. To do this, we put pictures of the 40 signs into one shared document. We numbered the signs and created a table with six headings at the top. We used these headings (categories) to analyse the signs. We counted how many occurrences of each feature appeared in the dataset, as well as making notes on cultural, social, and political contexts. For example, we noted how many monolingual Arabic signs occurred (Category 1—Language) or how many naming signs there were (Category 4—Function). This provided us with a comprehensive overview. From the table, we made a chart which gave us a visual representation of the corpus based on the six categories (see Fig. 1). Step 2: Identifying themes within the corpus After analysing the signs in terms of the categories in Table 1, we used thematic data analysis to identify key themes within the data set. This involved noting reoccurring patterns in the data and grouping similar patterns together to create broader themes. For example, the occurrence of flags, cultural images, and monolingual Arabic signs were grouped together under the theme of ‘Arabic, nationalism and Gulf culture’ (see Fig. 2). From our corpus, we chose representative pictures of signage which reflected the key themes to discuss in this chapter. In the following section, we begin with an overview of the main features of Socotra’s linguistic and semiotic landscape (RQ1) and then move on to explore key themes in the data set and how language use reflects symbolic power (RQ2).

4  Findings An analysis of the features seen amongst the 40-sign corpus can be seen in Fig. 1. Most of the signs were monolingual Arabic (70%) and most included images and symbols (65%). Most signs in the corpus were bottom up (65%) and most related to the function of ‘information and selling’ (60%). All were on a vertical plane, and most were at eye-level (60%). Almost all signs were on streets (57%) or at the roadside (37.5%). Top-down signs (35%) tended to be bilingual (Arabic and

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Table 1  Categorization of signage 1

Category Language(s)

2

Semiotics

3

Sign maker

4

Function

5

Space

6

Place/social context

Details • Monolingual (one language) • Bilingual (two languages) • Multilingual (more than two languages) • Images (pictures, photographs, symbols) • Other meaning-making aspects (e.g., flags) Ben-Rafael et al.’s (2006) categories of ‘top-down’ and ‘bottomup’ signs: • Top-down signs (text dispersed from an official source, such as a government) • Bottom-up signs (created by an unofficial source, such as shop owners, private businesses, advertisements, graffiti etc.) Cook’s (2022) categories for functions of signs and two extra categories: ‘protest’ and ‘care’ • Controlling signs—control the behaviour of drivers and passersby • Naming signs—label buildings, streets, businesses, etc • Informing and selling signs—provide information and try to appeal to passersby • Commemorating signs—commemorate people and places • Protest signs—speak out against a social issue, often in the form of graffiti • Care signs—messages of support and care Cook’s (2022) categories of planes and zones • Horizontal (signs on the ground—such as floor stickers or words written on the street/pavement) and vertical planes (signs on vertical surfaces such as walls, billboards, vans etc.) • Eye-level, fascia, high and low zones (the placement of the sign in terms of height) • Area of the island (roadside/street/near caves) • Cultural or historical background related to signs (political elements related to time and/or space, symbolic cultural references)

English), especially the naming signs related to development and restructuring programs from nearby Gulf nations. Very few signs related to functions other than giving information, selling, and naming. For example, unlike most other contexts globally, there were no signs relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. When asked about this, one of our photographers stated, ‘It was like COVID didn’t exist’. The reason the pandemic has not been given much attention in Yemen, both at a governmental level nor at the public level, is most likely due to the dire situation caused by the civil war. In this context, most people had no choice but to succumb to herd immunity, with almost no preventive precautions even in large cities such as Sana’a, Aden, and Taiz, let alone a remote island like Socotra. To discuss the signs in greater depth, three key themes were identified (Fig. 2). The first theme identified was ‘symbolic power of Arabic, nationalism, and Gulf culture’ due to the prevenance of flags, dominance of monolingual Arabic signs (70%) and culturally significant symbols. The second theme was ‘Gulf development

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40 signs - Socotra semioc and linguisc landscape

Language / semiocs

Sign - maker

Funcon

Monolingual

Bilingual

Images / symbols

Boom up

Selling / informaon

(n = 29 / 72.5%)

(n = 11 / 27.5%)

(n = 23 / 57%)

(n = 26 / 65%)

(n = 24 / 60%)

Arabic (n = 28 / 70%)

Balanced amount of Arabic and English (n = 8 / 20%)

English (n = 1 / 2.5%)

Signs with images

Top down

Naming

(n = 15 / 37.5%)

(n = 14 / 35%)

(n = 23 / 57.5%))

Dominance of Arabic

Signs with flags

(n = 3 / 7.5%)

(n = 8 / 20%)

Showing care / memorial /protest (n = 3 / 7.5%)

Space and place

Vercal plane (n =40 / 100%). Horizonal plane (n =0 / 0%)

High / Facsia zone (n = 17 / 42%). Eye-level zone (n = 24 / 60%). Low Zone (n = 7 / 17.5%)

Street (n = 23/ 57%). Roadside (n = 15 / 37.5%) Near caves / in transit (n = 2 / 5%)

Order (including COVID19 warning signs) (n = 0 / 0%)

Fig. 1  Categorization of the small corpus of signage (n = 40) on Socotra Island

Symbolic power of Arabic, na onalism, and Gulf culture Gulf development programs – support / aid / strategic control Symbolic power of English / Western world /signs for tourists

Fig. 2  Three key themes in the semiotic and linguistic landscape of Socotra

programs—support, aid and strategic control’ due to most naming signs relating to such programs. The third theme was ‘symbolic power of English, the western world and signs for tourists’ as seen through bilingual English/Arabic signs (27%) and the influence of the West and tourism, particularly on selling signs. Each of these themes will be explored with images of representative signs in the following subsections.

4.1 Theme 1: Symbolic Power of Arabic, Nationalism, and Gulf Culture Many of the signs pointed toward the symbolic power of Arabic together with displays of Yemeni nationalism through flags and cultural references. As seen in Table 1, the majority of signage on the island was in Arabic. Although Socotri

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is the mother tongue of Socotrans, it has no presence on signs. Even bottom-up signs in shops and restaurants mainly use Arabic to serve the needs of islanders. For example, Fig. 3 shows a monolingual ‘sign in transit’ (Sebba, 2010) reading ‘Hadhramaut Restraunt and Cafeteria—Meat kabsah—mandi—fried meat— fish—jar cooked beans—fresh juice—sandwiches. Fully prepared for all banquets and occasions’. The food items listed and illustrated on the van, such as ‘mandi’ (meat with a special blend of spices, cooked in a pit underground) and ‘kabsah’ (mixed rice dish) are staple dishes across Yemen and other Gulf countries. It could be argued that Arabic is used instead of the Socotri language due to Socotri lacking a written form. However, as mentioned previously, an alphabet for Socotri was introduced in 2014, but it is seldom used. While there are efforts to preserve Socotri-language poetry as ‘an ambassador’ for the language (Peutz, 2018, p. 246), the dominance of Arabic on signage demonstrates that there is little effort made to represent Socotri in the day-to-day linguistic landscape. The occurrence of flags was another common feature on signage with 20% of signs containing one flag or more. The use of the Yemeni flag could be said to symbolize nationalism as a unified Yemen. Other flags in the corpus included the South Yemen flag, as seen in Fig. 4, as well as the UAE, Saudi and Kuwait flags for signs related to development plans. The presence of the South Yemen flag has become very common in Socotra recently and it is also common in Aden and Abyan governorates, and in Shabwah. It appears in Fig. 4 alongside a red monolingual Arabic sign reading ‘Southern Transitional Council. Babahhar checkpoint’. The sign appears to have been put up for security purposes and to ensure the control of the island by the Southern Transitional Council (STC). Signage also reflected cultural and religious influences on the island. For example, Fig. 5 shows a religious sign placed above a restaurant door. It is based on one of the Islamic teachings which urges Muslims to help each other by means of sadaqah (alms) which is supported by the Prohpet’s tradition (Hadith) at the end of the sign. This sign serves a symbolic and cultural function. Such religious signs are not common in other Gulf states/contexts. Even in Yemen, they are not very frequent. Some shop and restaurant owners use this technique to help those people

Fig. 3  Monolingual Arabic sign in transit

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Fig. 4  The South Yemen flag next to the ‘Southern Transitional Council—Babahhar checkpoint’

English translation: Shabwa Restaurants welcome you Dear brother If you don't have money, don't be ashamed to ask for something that satisfies your hunger for free; this is your right and this is our duty. And God helps the servant as long as the servant helps his brother. Fig. 5  Religious sign above a restaurant door and English translation

who are in need in a poor country like Yemen. Therefore, this kind of sign may not be encountered in richer Gulf countries such as the UAE or Qatar. Other types of religious signs or stickers, however, can be found in Gulf states in the form of Islamic teachings and advice, verses of the holy Quran, the Prophet’s traditions, and some other general expressions such as ‘Ma shaa Allah, tabaaraka Allah’ (as God wills, blessed is God). In Yemen, some short chapters (suras) or verses from the holy Quran can also be seen engraved on the cities’ buildings (see Al-Athwary, 2012, p. 36). The religious content of the Fig. 5 sign indexes the symbolic power of Arabic and Islam on the island.

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Fig. 6  Qāt and Kashkush monolingual Arabic signs

Cultural practices and references were also present in Socotra’s semiotic and linguistic landscape. For example, Fig. 6 shows two monolingual Arabic ‘selling signs’, photographed from behind a wall. The larger sign reads ‘The best types of al-thehlah qāt’ and the smaller sign in the middle of the picture reads ‘Kashkush’. In the first sign, qāt refers to the green leaves that Yemenis usually chew in the afternoon and the evening and ‘Thehlah’ is one variety of this plant. Qāt is a stimulant drug which speeds up the body and mind. Although qāt has been in mainland Yemen for a long time, it was brought to Socotra only in the early 1990s by Northern military aircraft (Elie, 2014; Gatter, 2012). Socotrans generally have a different attitude toward it from North Yemenis. While North Yemenis chew it anytime, in the Southern governorates, including Aden, qāt sessions were traditionally only allow on weekends. After the Yemeni unification in 1990, however, restrictions on chewing qāt were lifted in the Sothern governorates and people began to use it at any time. Despite these changes, it is still generally seen as a symbol of the mainland or North Yemen which influences Socotran cultural practices (Elie, 2020). For the second sign in Fig. 6, the name Kashkush is the name of a Yemeni TV series for kids. There is no obvious reason why this term was selected. It is a colloquial Arabic word which is similar (in phonological form) to the Standard Arabic word ‘kashkul’ which means ‘notebook’. Kashkush was probably chosen as it mimics the pattern and structure of this word. This TV series is broadcast on the Yemeni official space channel and TVs are uncommon on Socotra, so it can be assumed that the owner is a migrant bringing a cultural influence from the mainland. As part of the semiotic landscape of Socotra, it is common to see beautifully painted doors, such as the one in Fig. 7. This is an example of a symbolic representation of culture which is detached from language. Interestingly, next to the door, there is bottom-up handwritten sign which reads ‘Abbas 10. 10. 2020’. It could have been written by the artist who painted the door (as it is in the same shade of yellow used on the door) or alternatively it could be by a passer-by, just to say: “Hey! I have passed by here. Remember me!”.

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Fig. 7  Decorative door and name and date written on the wall

Figure 7 is the only commemorating sign in the corpus, and it symbolizes social actors interaction/lack of interaction with public spaces.

4.2 Theme 2: Gulf Development Programs—support/aid/ strategic control A second key theme in Socotra’s semiotic and linguistic landscape is the presence of ‘naming signage’ relating to development programs from nearby Gulf countries. From the top-down signs in the corpus (n = 14), 64% (n = 9) were Gulf development program signs. These signs tended to be placed on the roadside and they generally took the form of a stand-alone combination of several small plaques (usually between 3 and 6) placed in a vertical row, as seen in in Fig. 8. These signs were either monolingual (Arabic) as in Figs. 8 and 9 or bilingual (Arabic and English) as in Fig. 10. Figure 8 shows a series of signs by the Kuwait Relief Society. Most of these signs name elements of the program but the first message ‘Kuwait supports you!’ can be identified as a ‘care sign’. The intended readers are Socotrans and the message shows support and care. Similarly, Fig. 9 shows a monolingual Arabic sign by the Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation for Humanitarian Works. This foundation is based in the UAE and the nation’s flag as well as images are shown. The images send out a message of togetherness and perhaps ‘bright ideas’ or improved electricity, as shown by the light bulbs. Saudi Arabia’s presence on the island is also notable through signs such as the one in Fig. 10, by the Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen.

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English translation a) Kuwait supports you! b) Rehabilitation of Wadi Ayhaf Water Pipeline Network, Socotra Archipelago c) Funding: Kuwait Relief Society, State of Kuwait d) Supervised by: Kuwait Relief Society, Yemen e) Execution: Al-Tawasul for Human Development f) PhotoCAD Group for Engineering,

Contracting,

Consulting and Oilfield Services Fig. 8  Arabic monolingual sign by the Kuwait Relief Society

Fig. 9  Monolingual Arabic top-down sign. It reads: Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation for Humanitarian Works. Sheikh Zayed Station 2 for the Year of Tolerance

English translation a) Strengthening the electrical capacity of the health center - Nawjad b) The Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen. c) Ahmed Al Rashed Al Humaid consulting engineers. d) Execution: SABB International Company for the Supply of Electric Generators Fig. 10  Bilingual (Arabic and English) sign by the Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen

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The signs in Figs. 8, 9 and 10 symbolize the presence of Gulf countries on the island and the power, influence, and wealth these countries bring. As BenRafael et al. (2006) point out, greater power is often attributed to top-down signs as opposed to bottom-up signs, adding to the weight of their presence. The signs could be interpreted as symbolizing the current times and political circumstances on Socotra (2020—present).

4.3 Theme 3: Influence of English/Western World/Signs for Tourists A third theme identified in the corpus of signs is the influence of English and Western culture. In places where tourists gather such as hotels, the airport, attractions (such as Houq Cave) and some restaurants, bilingual signs dominated. In some cases, Arabic signs had been translated into English with some words being inaccurately translated. In other cases, signs indexed Western culture, ideologies, and politics. An example of the former case can be seen in Fig. 11, which shows a bilingual restaurant sign next to a hotel. The restaurant serves ‘broasted chicken’ (similar to fried chicken) but the English word ‘broasted’ (‘‫ )’بروست‬has been wrongly translated into ‘prest’. The replacement of /b/ by /p/ is most probably due to the b/p distinction that exists in English but not in Arabic. The word ‘modern’ appears in both the restaurant logo and the main part of the sign, which could index a connection between modernity and the use of English, as has been found in other Gulf contexts (Al-Athwary, 2012; Hopkyns, 2020b). The names of Western and anglophone landmarks or place names on signage could be seen to index the symbolic power of English and associated culture. For example, in Fig. 12, a hotel named ‘Heathrow Hotel Socotra’ uses the main London airport name to present connections with the UK. The use of the English name ‘Heathrow’ in Fig. 12 could also be interpreted in the context of the alienation phenomenon ‘in which the individual feels alien

Fig. 11  Bottom-up bilingual (English and Arabic) restaurant next to a hotel

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Fig. 12  Bilingual sign reading ‘Heathrow Hotel Socotra’

to the traditional society he lives in and starts seeking another more sophisticated culture where he can satisfy his social needs and interests and express himself in a better social context’ (Al-Athwary, 2012, p. 38). Another explanation would be that this enterprise is owned by a Yemeni investor who has been an immigrant (maybe in the UK) and uses such foreign names to show that he is more modern and more prestigious. In other Yemeni cities such as Sana’a, the same phenomenon exists, where names such as ‘Friends’ (from the popular American TV show), ‘Paris’, ‘Manchester’ and ‘Miami’ are used as shop or hotel names. A final sign in the corpus which illustrates the influence of English and Western politics on Socotra can be seen in Fig. 13, which reads ‘F**k you Trump’. This sign could be classified as a protest sign used to speak out against a social issue. It takes the form of graffiti, which can be defined as ‘the genred semiotic practice of Fig. 13  Monolingual (English) ‘F**k you Trump’ sign. The middle two letters of the first word have been covered in this image for academic reasons

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producing tags, throw ups or pieces’ (Karlander, 2018, p. 55). It relates to recent US politics and may have been written by a resident of Socotra or, equally, it could have been written by a tourist. The US’s 45th president, Donald Trump, is a controversial figure worldwide due to his unconventional rhetoric and divisive discourse, amongst other factors, and tends to be provocative (Sclafani, 2018). Some people believe that the US is practicing a hostile policy against Yemen and is partially responsible for the catastrophic situation in Yemen. Such feelings could have resulted in such a slogan being inscribed on this wall. In Fig. 13, there has been an attempt to erase the word “f**k” from the sign as seen by the red paint over the word. This is most likely due to this being a taboo word in Yemen as a conservative religious society. Together with its controversial content being a reason for its eraser, graffiti by nature is ‘produced under constantly changing circumstances and with relatively little chance of lasting very long’ (Jørgensen, 2008, p. 237). This was the only monolingual English sign in the corpus and represents an awareness of US politics and a desire to voice feelings to an English-speaking audience, even if only for a snapshot in time.

5  Discussion and Conclusion From the findings, three main themes were identified in relation to language as symbolic power in Socotra’s linguistic and semiotic landscape: (1) the dominance of Arabic and Yemeni nationalism; (2) the textual presence of both Arabic and English through top-down Gulf development programs; (3) The influence of English as a global language and English as a commodity. A missing element from the linguistic and semiotic landscape of Socotra was any form of representation of its endangered indigenous language, Socotri. Although, as an oral language, Socotri is used in Socotra’s linguistic ecology together with a hybrid form of Socotri and Arabic (Gintsburg & Esposito, 2022; Morris, 2017), it does not have a textual presence in everyday settings such as on bottom-up shop or restaurant signs. Despite linguists recently creating an Arabic-based writing system for the Socotri language (Romanov, 2014), mixed feelings around the preservation and revitalization of Socotri exist amongst Socotrans themselves (Elie, 2012). There are many factors which influence the construction of linguistic identities on the island. While some efforts are being made to preserve Socotri through sponsored poetry competitions in the capital, Hadibo, the poems are mainly translated into Arabic or Arabic-influenced Socotri (Bradt & Booth, 2020). Socotri is still being used inside homes, but in public spaces it has to compete with the more symbolically powerful languages of Arabic and English, which carry greater social prestige. Arabic is particularly powerful due to it symbolizing Yemeni nationalism, pan-Arab identities as well as Islam. The Arabization of the island in terms of schooling and businesses together with the presence of mainly monolingual Arabic signs in the linguistic landscape, has

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affected how Socotrans view their mother tongue. This relates to mixed language desires and loyalties. On the one hand, Arabic is embraced as the language of a united Yemen and the language of Islam. On the other hand, there is an awareness of the marginalization Socotri experiences in everyday life, which induces feelings of guilt, shame, loss, and nostalgia (Elie, 2012). Exclusion of local indigenous languages can also be found in neighboring Gulf countries. For example, in the case of Oman, Al-Issa (2022) points out that the discourse of neoliberalism in both the late and present Sultans’ speeches overtly emphasize the importance of Arabic and English in society and education with no mention of the need to protect Oman’s endangered minority languages such as Lawati, Jibbali and Mihri. Al-Issa (2022) explains that Omanis are emotionally attached to Arabic for its close link to Islam, ‘Arabhood’ and ‘Arabness’ and Arabic as a language of the state is closely tied to nationalism (p. 35). Such societal pressure to show alliance to Arabic for national and religious unity together with few efforts to revive indigenous languages may result in the fading away of these languages. Key to the survival of endangered languages is the need for a written system, support and recognition for this written system through effective teaching, and representation of the written language in daily life (not just for festivals). As Bradt and Booth (2020) summarize in relation to Socotri, ‘the continued survival of the Socotri language depends on its ability to hold its own against the Arabic that dominates its society, and to do so with, as yet, little official support or recognition’ (p. 43). As the findings from the current study revealed, the symbolic power of English, as a global language, adds to the complexity of Socota’s semiotic and linguistic landscape. As a language often viewed as a commodity or a ‘golden ticket to social mobility’, English is seen as important for the growth of the island’s eco-tourism industry. Working in this industry is seen as a desirable livelihood for Socotrans with English proficiency. To navigate the linguistic complexities of Socotra, an emphasis on embracing such linguistic complexities needs to be adopted. This would be a more sustainable approach to the current ‘existential dilemma’ whereby Socotrans are torn between notions of ‘traditional/modernity and the island/mainland divides’ (Elie, 2012, p. 41). While the current study has provided a glimpse into the complex dynamics existing in Socotra’s linguistic and semiotic landscape, we call for a more extensive study of this nature to be conducted. Including ethnographic interviews with islanders together with an analysis of language representation on online Socotra sites would build on the findings from the current study and provide a more extensive picture of the linguistic complexities and language representation on Socotra. Acknowledgements  We want to thank Dr. Lacey Sloan and Dr. Zoe Hurley for providing us with the corpus of Socotra Island signage needed for the study and for answering our many questions on the location and social context of the signage. Without their support, this study would not have been possible. We also want to thank the anonymous reviewers who gave valuable feedback on an earlier draft of this chapter.

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Rediscover Socotra: The Island on the Edge of the Ecumene Annalisa D’Ascenzo

1 Socotra. A Geographical-Historical Article This paper contributes to analysis, by means of the social sciences, of the island of Socotra, focusing on a vision and reflections developed within the field of geographical-historical disciplines. It will be used the regressive method with integrated sources typical of historical geography, which analyzes information from the past to outline, over time, a series of synchronic frameworks and then reconstruct the passages, material and immaterial, real and symbological, from one era to other. The second characteristic of this method is the integrated use of different sources (literary, iconographic, historical, etc.) to search for known and interpretative data, putting languages, techniques, and discourses into a system to reconstruct the epistemology of human knowledge and the relationship with geography, with space, both experienced and imagined.1 This approach provides a humanistic vision which investigates and explores information contained in ancient evidence to draw out, as far as possible, knowledge of the physical and social reality of the island, marked by its separation from the continents and the difficulties of maritime communication. The island’s isolated position allowed the development of an original and unique culture, based upon the population’s technical capacity to use the resources, with some external input. This situation created a legacy inherited from the past which today forms a valuable (and natural) endowment for planning the future. The sense of places and their value in the eyes of human communities over the passage of time are deeply dependent upon knowledge of these places and the ability 1 An approach already outlined at the beginning of the nineteenth century by Alexander von Humboldt (1836–1839) whose validity still today was recently appreciated in a meeting dedicated to the memory of Massimo Quaini organized by Centro Italiano per gli Studi Storico-Geografici (D’Ascenzo, 2021).

A. D’Ascenzo (B) Dipartimento di Studi umanistici, Università Roma Tre, Roma, Italy e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 N. Slak Valek and A. A. Zedan (eds.), A Social View of Socotra Island, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4358-6_7

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to insert them into networks of communication and trade, of functions and meanings. From these networks arises a vision of space in past eras, which can be investigated and defined by means of cartography and odeporic literature, as tools of knowledge and of transfer of cultural meanings, and indeed of relationships of power. The dynamic between the near-known and the far-unknown dominates humanity’s relationship with the geographic space. The wish, or ancestral need, is not so much to abandon early myths as to move them yet further and further away, to the very ends of the known world where they can find a home in lands that are imagined, hoped for, longed for, or feared because inhabited by monsters. Travel and related experiences have always been the driving force behind human knowledge and the desire to expand the boundaries of the known towards the conceptual challenge of the unknown.2 The island of Socotra in this sense is an interesting example of the extent to which geographic knowledge does not remain stable over time, of how the contraction of frequented space does not immediately translate into oblivion of far-off marginal lands. Rather, with the shrinking of the geographical horizon (through crises, wars, etc.), knowledge of the past clothes itself in myth, and is translated into legend. Humanity mythologized those lands difficult to reach and peopled them with the trappings of a Utopia, positive and negative. Socotra is also a shining example of how a resurgence of exploratory voyages and trade was accompanied by the rediscovery and, at times, the revival of ancient knowledge, of legends, of reconstructions of the past based upon the ability to interpret the historical-environmental reality. Our sources for such research are, once again, historical cartography and the literature of travel, which, together with input from other disciplines (art, archaeology, anthropology, etc.) illustrate above all the imagination of the societies from which they arise, over and above their complexities and distant realities.

2 Islands and Myths. Some Initial Considerations When the advance of classical Hellenism laid the basis for the creation of an extensive cultural koinè in a wider universe, the Mediterranean world began to explore the myth of legendary islands facing the East. In mysterious seas of indefinable extent, far from known and accessible lands, small parts of paradise surrounded by ocean were seen as home to the spiritual and material happiness to which mankind aspired. The East was transformed from a point of orientation on the horizontal plane into a realm, or

2

The relationship between the geography of the known and frequented space and that of the liminal places, difficult or impossible to reach, is a fundamental theme of the past and of the current Italian scientific debate (Dematteis, 2021; Olschki, 1937).

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concept, of the spirit and of fulfillment of needs.3 A space of freedom of choice and by definition perfection, which in its turn nourished over the following millennia the image of a land of abundance and worldly superiority. With the passing of time, however, humanity had to extend this mystical realm to maintain their own dreams and aspirations, with indeed many, perhaps too many, controversies and contradictions. It needed to play with both its distance from the known world and its extent. And so began a process of fragmentation and specialization which played upon both the imagination and the geography: every Utopia, like every fear, created its own tiny world of reference where the irreconcilable sank into those indefinable distances between one and the other. The unknown waters separated ideal worlds and amplified the strength of the myths which protected them from the transience and uncertainties of the real world. Many legends, positive and negative, found their island on which to establish themselves. Arabia in the classical era remained unknown and mysterious and so became the idealized border between two worlds, a “cradle” of eastern treasures. Currently there was no awareness among Europeans of the vastness and complexity of the lands around the Indian Ocean, nor of those still further east, from Indonesia to China. As a result the Arabian Sea acquired enormous importance, most especially in the field of myth and legend. The islands lying further to the south took on a mystical character, increasing their two-fold fascination, by instilling fear whilst exciting the desire for prosperity and well-being. This allure continued until Europeans finally, spurred on by curiosity, by the challenge of the unknown, and by cupidity, succeeded in gaining direct experience of these lands and seas and oceans, opening the way to new stages in the world’s history and geography. Socotra4 did not escape this Mediterranean cultural and economic process of seeking to find an idealized space on an island in the East, in the case of Socotra a space so special as to have been chosen by the gods as their home on Earth.

3 The Mysterious East Indies Before we look at the ancient myth of Socotra as the earthly residence of the gods, we should observe that among the Greeks there was a firmly rooted concept that the Orient was rich and well-developed, multi-faceted, undefined and mystical. Such beliefs sprang from the difficulty in gaining any precise geographical information on the trade with the East by which merchandise, both spices and other precious goods, passed through to the Mediterranean, having travelled from port to port controlled by various eastern peoples, Malay, Indian, Mid-eastern. These uncertainties paradoxically increased when the sense of the Orient as being India had to confront the 3

Even before Homer and the Greeks, the Sumerians had described the voyage of Gilgamesh, who “there where the sun rises” had sought the theory of salvation and the secret of immortality. 4 An examination of the etymology of the name, or rather of the term, is given in Serge D. Elie (2020).

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reality of several different Indies following the odeporic accounts of the journeys of Alexander the Great.5 The descriptions of the adventures of Alexander and his companions, Nearchus and Craterus, unfold as far as the course of the River Indus, with the more easterly and southerly lands remaining unknown. The first evidence of Socotra to which we can refer originates in equal measure from an embryonic geographical discovery and the realm of myth. It comes from a Greek source of considerable interest not only because it indicates the reworking of the very few scraps of information then available, in the wake of the process of idealisation outlined thus far, but also because its traces have remained through successive eras and changing historical contexts.

4 The Matrix of the Greek Myth: Panchaia6 At the beginning of the third century BC, almost six decades after Alexander the Great’s challenge to the eastern limits of the ecumene,7 the Greek Euhemerus of Messina, told of, or perhaps rather dreamt of, the island of Panchaia,8 an island of the Indian Ocean chosen by the Olympian gods as their home.9 The story, later taken up and transmitted by the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus, took the form of a first-hand account of a voyage. Euhemerus, an associate of King Cassander of Macedon, was entrusted with the king’s commercial affairs, and so he embarked along an itinerary known to the Hellenic and Egyptian sailors of the time. Following this route, he sailed down the Red Sea, surmounting all its dangers, to reach Southern Arabia and the ocean. After he had navigated along an unknown course, he came to an archipelago of which the main island, around two hundred 5

Alexander’s epic expeditions were reworked in the realm of fantasy over the following centuries, with Alexander following events far removed from the reality and performing deeds that never happened but were regarded as “plausible” because they took place in the mystical waters of the Indian Ocean. One of these had Socotra at its center. A mediaeval Islamic legend, repeated for example by Idris, had the wounded Alexander being cured by the aloe of Socotra, with the result that he decided to conquer the island to obtain this healing ointment to treat his wounded soldiers. 6 Generally, it was decided to adopt the Latin form of the mentioned toponyms. 7 In the sixth century BC the Greek philosopher Anaximander drew the first geographical map and defined the space known and inhabited by humanity as ecumene. That is the set of countries known thanks to travel by land and sea, populated by people, plants and animals. A different concept from that relating to the shape and size of the planet, of the globe, whose measurement came later with Eratosthenes (III century BC). The ecumene consisted of three continents (Europe, Asia, Africa) surrounded by the Ocean Sea. 8 Euhemerus (c. 340–260 BC) described its position and the characteristics of its population, from , which most scholars consider that the account is based on Socotra. The work Iερα` ¢ναγραϕη´ (translated into Latin by Ennius as Sacra Historia) had at its center the nature of the gods, with strong links to Mediterranean civilization. 9 The information and descriptions taken from the sources clearly reproduce the Mediterraneancentric mentality of the authors, as well as the stereotypes and reference models typical of the era to which they belong.

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, stade long, was Panchaia or Hiera (Iερα).10 This island, defined as “sacra”, had abundant incense-bearing trees, sufficient to produce the quantity necessary for the whole of humanity’s propitiatory rites, and many other essences used for liturgical purposes and in sacrifices, such as myrrh. The Arabs loaded such merchandise from the island’s coasts and used it to trade with Egypt, Mediterranean Syria and Phoenicia. The account makes no mention of trade with India, which does, however, emerge from the information given on the inhabitants, who were of mixed origin, some local, other Scythians, Cretans, and Indians. A racial melting-pot spawned by the gods and the island’s position, at the crossroads of extensive trade-routes and battered by the winds. Panchaia was described as having many springs of sweet water, as well as flora and fauna worthy of a mediaeval bestiary. The capital, Panara, was a city rich in everything that could render its people happy. In addition to Panara there were three other cities on the island, Iracia, Dalis and Oceanis. Inland a great plain opened, dominated by the mountain of Tryphylian Olympus, the site of the first settlement and of a natural astronomical observatory (Diodorus Siculus V. 41–47). Up to this point there is a realistic historical-geographic basis to support the account, most probably founded upon information received indirectly, with some concessions to the interpretation of divine will, but it then becomes more difficult to follow, other than in the light of a reworking in a strongly Utopian key inconsistent with the environmental and climatic conditions of the island. For Euhemerus, it was endowed with its own idealized government, administered by a triumvirate of magistrates elected annually who, together with the priests, presided over the administration of justice. There were two other classes, or castes, of society: the soldiers and the farmers, with the wealth being held collectively.11 Sixty stade from Panara stood a majestic and ancient temple dedicated to Zeus Tryphilius, God of the original people. Here there is a golden stele with inscriptions in hieroglyphics—a clear reference to the Nile civilization which acted as a “bridge” between the milieus of the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. The hieroglyphic inscription described the actions of the gods, who had been born in Crete and carried to the island by Zeus himself (ibid.).

10

A small island seven stade away was used as a cemetery. A third island, thirty stade away, lay in the eastern ocean and extended so far that from its most eastern promontory India could be seen in the distance from it. 11 At Panchaia an ideal society was thought to have developed, without private property, or slavery, or money, which Evans describes as a golden age which succeeded the iron age (Evans, 2008, p. 10).

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5 The Literary Images from the Greeks and Romans In the following centuries the Arabs held the role of an unavoidable transport hub for the passage of sought-after products, fed by the growth of trade between east and west due to the rising wealth of Rome. The luxury goods which reached the Mediterranean and the difficulty in obtaining detailed information of any kind, including geographical, on the provenance of this merchandise, encouraged even the Romans to believe in the Utopian ideal of a fertile, rich and happy Orient. An observation should be made at this point. The sources from Rome that bridge the first centuries BC and AD clearly differ. On the one hand we have documents linked to the experience of the merchants and navigators, and on the other the works of historians and literary figures writing in the Hellenistic tradition, who are less up-to-date and less in touch with the reality than the former. Clearly the Romans in the initial phases of their rise to being a regional power, while being further from the Orient and culturally less developed than the Greeks, still absorbed, if only passively, the legacy of knowledge, including the concept of Arabia as a land of treasures and marvels and Socotra as a source of perfumes and medicinal plants. A mystical place into which to expand and populate with new fantasies. Euheremus’ Utopian account, transmitted to Rome by Quintus Ennius (thirdsecond centuries BC), survived in Latin works and translations. We should also note that several scholars began to doubt the veracity of Socotra’s existence and the alleged provenance of the goods that came from there to the mainland. Virgil12 and Ovid13 for example cite Panchaia as a fertile region which produced incense, just as Pliny the Elder14 did later, positioning it in Arabia and linking it to another myth of antiquity: the Arabian Phoenix.15 Returning to the catalogue of fantasies that flourished around the eastern lands, travelling from myth to myth, it is interesting to note that for an intelligent and cultured man like Pliny Arabia remained an unknown but fascinating land, a place of choice for a series of bizarre miracles, among which the extraordinary bird that was reborn from its own ashes.

12

“totaque turiferis Panchaia pinguis harenis”, “Panchaeis adolescunt ignibus aræ” (Georgics II 139, IV 379). 13 “Sit dives amomo, cinnamaque, costumque suum sudataque ligno turaa ferat, floresque alios Panchaia tellus, dum ferat et murram: tanti nova non fuit arbos” (Metamorphoses X 307–9). 14 Pliny also gave it as a possible gold-producer, “auri metalla et flaturam Cadmus phoenix ad Pangaeum montem ut alii Thoas aut Aeacus in Panchaia (Natural History VII 197). 15 When the resurrected bird, which had emerged from the cinders, first as a worm and then in 3 days (as in the resurrection of Christ) as a little bird, and then as a new phoenix, celebrated the funeral rites of its predecessor, it carried the burning nest to Panchaia, to the City of the Sun, and there placed it upon an altar (“propria Panchaiam in Solis urbem et in ara ibi deponere”; Natural History X 4).

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6 The Augustan Age and the Widening of the Geographical Horizon: Geography and Environmental Conditions The Romans, after their initial phase of passive assimilation of Hellenic knowledge and spurred on by their well-known practical sense, expanded the limits of their own geographical horizons towards the south-east, in the direction of the lands in which they might come across the treasures of the East. Augustus took advantage of the numerous ambassadors he received and of the adventurous voyages which the Romans made as far as India. And so from the late Republican Age Arabia entered into the expansionist lens of the Empire as a goal for territorial conquest. The Arabian Peninsula was no longer regarded as a remote space on which to project exotic or Utopian images, but as a “true” region, with different environmental conditions, inhabited by nomads and warring tribes, with cities that were centers of commercial prosperity, while retaining the idea of riches and luxuriant fertility in its southern part. The more regular trade and maritime contact with the East led to Rome receiving news of the lands and islands of the Indian Ocean. In this context Socotra for the first time appears in the sources with pertinent and recognizable points of information, although its precise geographical location remained uncertain, so that it was sometimes considered close to the Arabian coast and at others lying off the coast of Africa, and at yet others was thought to be an island right out in the middle of the ocean. The first correct knowledge of Socotra, based on practical, updated and verifiable information from the voyages of navigators and merchants, is found in a quite exceptional text of an eminently practical nature, written as a handbook to the trading conditions between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean: the Periplous tês Erythràs Thalàss¯es (or Periplus Maris Erythraei—the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea). Probably written by Greco-Egyptian merchants, by now living under Roman supremacy, it describes in considerable detail the stages taken by merchandise passing between the two seas in the first century AD. Through its complexity and the tight network of economic and cultural relationships that it implies, this manual can be considered as the sum of classical knowledge. At the same time the text is the closest evidence of the time when Romans, having taken control of the Red Sea routes, pushed beyond the Horn of Africa to establish secure outposts under their control, or at least to identify harbors that were reliable and as close as possible to the direct trade in spices and other merchandise from the East. The Periplus did not therefore appear by chance in the era in which the Romans were reaching the apex of their political and military power, and of their own commercial ability. The political expansion under Trajan and Hadrian led to a level of trade that was never again equaled. One fact attracts attention. The Periplus describes accurately the extent to which the Romans had by that time understood the seasonal nature of the trade routes, both outgoing and returning, exploiting the annual changes in the prevailing monsoon

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winds of the Indian Ocean.16 Obviously, the environmental conditions influenced both the times of departure and the final destinations, and thereby the types of voyages and the trades that could be undertaken. There were obvious differences between trade moving towards Africa and trade moving towards Arabia or India.17 It was thanks to this widening of the geographical horizon that Socotra entered Rome’s vision. The allure of the mystery which had long surrounded it had now faded. For a certain period, the island gained solid characteristics which were established in the descriptive sources and the travel writings of the time. The geographical framework offered by the Periplus leads towards Socotra, leaving the continental coast. Following the itinerary described allows us to gain a clear picture of the knowledge of the time and to enter, step by step, into the world of sailors and merchants who, along these almost magical routes, carried the treasure of the East to the West and vice versa. After the Red Sea narrowed to the south, where the city of Ok¯elis lay, the Arabian Peninsula opened into a gulf and here, we read, was the country of Eudaim¯on Arabia (Arabia Felix is the country of Aden, but the indication is ambiguous and at the same time also indicates the homonymous coastal center), which had good moorings and great cisterns of sweet water, fundamental needs for maritime traffic. The definition of “felix” was not—and is not—an insignificant detail, as the Periplus itself notes, since it stresses its role then of a meeting-point between two worlds: the one centered on the Mediterranean, which we define western to simplify, and the one overlooking the south-eastern Indian Ocean which, however, already reached China at that time. The Arabian low coastline continued towards the east, stretching along a gulf. The coast was inhabited by “Nomads” and “Ikhthuophagoi”. Further on was the large commercial station of Kan¯e,18 in the frankincense country, and then the wide Gulf of Sacchalit¯es (Fig. 1). The Land of Frankincense was mountainous and inaccessible with a dense and cloudy atmosphere owing to the trees themselves, neither large nor tall, which gave the land its name. The resin on the bark was gathered by the king’s slaves or by prisoners sent there as a punishment. The country had very little food and was unhealthy and poisonous to the point of being fatal to those who worked there; it was even dangerous to those who sailed past it. The frankincense was brought down to a depot on the coast, from where it left to be traded by land and sea. It was transported on camels, on little boats made of skins, or on ships (Periplus §§ 26–29). 16

A condition also noted present in modern documentation, when the Europeans—as we shall see—had to “rediscover” the phenomenon, which has not changed today and has a strong influence on air travel and other current methods of transport. 17 In travelling from the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, it was possible to navigate directly to the coastal trading centers of southern Somalia, or instead sail along the coast, exchanging merchandise between the various harbors. From the Gulf of Aden to India one sailed in the summer, between July and September, exploiting the south-western monsoon. From India one had to await the winter north-eastern monsoon, embarking between December and January. 18 Local products were exported from Kan¯ e, such as incense, aloe and all the other merchandise that came from connections to “overseas” centers, namely, from the coasts of the Persian Gulf to north-western India.

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Fig. 1 The Periplus allows us to understand the degree of control that Rome exercised over the areas from which goods came from across the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, but also to design a map that highlights the knowledge and places of greatest interest (author: A. D’Ascenzo, source Periplus Maris Erythraei)

After the description of the Arabian coast and its commercial centers, the Periplus turned in the direction of Socotra. A fort to protect the frankincense country stood on the promontory of Syagros, together with a harbor and a depot for the storage of frankincense.19 Between Syagros and the Cape of Spices, or Capo Aromaton, which faced it across the open sea and was in Africa but very close to Arabia, was the Dioscoridis insulæ (Dioskouridou island), which was very large and semi-desert. It produced neither wine nor grain, but had plenty of water, with rivers and crocodiles, and very many vipers and lizards of exceptional size whose flesh the local people ate, while rendering the fat to use like oil. The few inhabitants all lived on the north coast and were a hospitable people, a mixture of Arabs, Indians and Greeks who had gone there to trade. The trade goods offered were the true land tortoise, the white tortoise, and the mountain tortoise, in addition to Indian cinnabar. It was under the control of the king of the Land of Frankincense. The traders of Muza maintained links with the island, and sailors from India who landed on the island by chance used to exchange rice, grain, Indian cloth and female slaves (who rarely arrive on the island), the latter only very rarely, for abundant loads of tortoiseshell (Periplus §§ 30–31).

19

The passage also says that frankincense is found right along the bay (Gulf of Sachalites), gathered into one place and left unguarded, entrusted to the protection of the gods. It cannot be loaded onto a ship without the king’s permission, and if anyone takes even a single grain, the ship will be unable to leave the port. This is the first reference to a legend which later circulated, attributing to the Socotri the ability to exercise magic and control the winds.

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Contrary to the records of the “literary” writings we referred to earlier, incense and aloe were not cited among the products of Socotra in the Periplus, whose authors did not consider that the Socotrans played an active trading role, but simply relied upon the navigational initiatives of other peoples.20

7 From the Merchants to Ptolemy The greater depth of knowledge, whether it was direct or indirect, deriving from advances in the voyages and the shipping of merchandise, as well as from the growth of Rome’s commercial networks, becomes clear in one of the most important works that has survived from antiquity, Ptolemy’s Ge¯ographiké hyph¯eg¯esis.21 Geographical representation, itineraries and periploi then available were used by the Alexandrian geographer to restore through his projection a structured sense of the ecumene. The regions of the known and inhabited world were described in their relative positions, followed by a list of localities accompanied by their positional coordinates. It is an extraordinary representation of the geographical knowledge circulating in the second century. What is of interest here is included in the description of Asia (Asiæ Tabula VI). The Arabian Peninsula is described in detail in three parts, under Petrea, Diserta and Felix,22 the latter of which, as we saw in the Periplus, is the most fertile and open to trade. Among the list of the most important localities appears the island of Dioscoride, or Dioscoria or Dioscoridis.23 Unfortunately, as we know, the periploi were descriptive texts and Ptolemy’s original maps have not come down to us. It is therefore difficult to have a true sense of how the Mediterranean might have imagined Socotra, the island placed at the limits of the ecumene. To help us in this challenge we can refer to a table drawn up by Abraham Ortelius many centuries later but on the basis of information extrapolated from the Greek and Latin sources. Ortelius places the large Dioscoridis insula close to the southern Arabian coast where incense was produced (Figs. 2 and 3).

20 Another odeporic text from a little later confirms the information given in the Periplus, even appearing so similar that they were both attributed to the same writer, until it was realized they were two distinct works. The later account is the Periplus attributed to the Greek historian, Arrian of Nicodemus, first-second century AD, who referred to the large island, Dioscoride. 21 Unfortunately the Tabula Peutingeriana did not include Arabia and the Indian Sea, nor, therefore, Socotra. 22 Three parts defined by the physical-geographical characteristics identified at the time: the stony part to the north, the desert in the center, the fertile to the south. 23 After the list of the most important cities, between the islands of Arabia, Socotra is found, with a pair of coordinates (Dies Max. Hor. min 12 36; Dist à Mer. Alex. Hor. min. 1 46), estimated or calculated on the references of time, substantially corresponding to modern latitude and longitude.

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Fig. 2 The table Erythraei sive Rubri Maris Periplus by Abraham Ortelius (c. 1598) was published in Parergon, the first historical atlas ever made. Courtesy of Stefano Bifolco, Libreria Antiquarius Roma (https://www.antiquarius.it/it/carte-storiche/7580-erythraei-sive-rubri-maris-periplus.html)

Fig. 3 Detail of the previous table with the Dioscoridis insula

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8 The Long Middle Ages. Crises and Recovery The crisis of the decline of the Roman Empire, the progressive shrinking of the area under Mediterranean control and the consequent loss of the possibility of obtaining luxury goods from the East resulted in the two worlds which had met each other along the southern coasts of Arabia now drawing further apart. In the Middle Ages western culture moved away from both Hellenic speculation and the Roman practical and pragmatic approach to embrace a more inward-looking dimension. Among the peoples of the Mediterranean Panchaia-Dioscuride-Socotra returned to oblivion, but its memory survived among the Arabs and the Muslim populations who still followed the commercial routes across the Indian Ocean.24 One important detail which emerges from the mediaeval sources is the arrival of Christianity on Socotra. Traditionally the work of evangelism is attributed to St Thomas in the first century, but this is most probably another myth and Christianity arrived later, brought by Nestorians or Jacobins; Cosma Indicopleuste indicated its presence on the island and its dependence on Persian clergy in the sixth century.25 When the rise of the Mongols in Asia brought a new dynasty to the Chinese throne, together with what is known as the Pax Mongolica, the caravan routes between East and West re-opened. With the resumption of commercial traffic, westerners once again also travelled along maritime routes, although on ships and routes controlled by other peoples, as had been the case in the classical age. The odeporic sources give us valuable information on this process of the recovery of commercial possibilities, and of knowledge and true experience in those distant and fascinating lands. Among the sources the most important is of course Marco Polo. In the last decades of the thirteenth century he acquired an extraordinary knowledge of an ecumene of lands and seas of enormous extent and variety, a knowledge which he passed on in great detail in the text co-authored with Rustichello da Pisa.

9 The Venetian Voyagers In his Libro delle meraviglie or Milione, Marco Polo told of Socotra, which he saw during his long voyage back from the Chinese coasts towards the Mediterranean, when, after leaving India, he sailed on, skirting the worlds of fantasy. We have seen how the legendary islands were an “ideal” home for nomadic fables in small worlds separated from reality. In the period between Ptolemy and Marco Polo we find that other wandering myths of antiquity gathered inside mysterious Socotra. Following Polo’s account, we read that among the many islands of the Indian Ocean lay Malle (or Mascola), 500 miles to the south of Sindh in western India, an 24

For the description of the island in the mediaeval Islamic sources see Ubaydi (1989). Cosma Indicopleuste writes of having sailed close to the island without actually landing, but he had met people from Socotra in Ethiopia who talked Greek, having been carried to the island by the Ptolomies (Topographia Christiana, XX 119, Yule, 1875).

25

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island populated only by men, with, 30 miles away, another island named Femelle (or Femina) populated in contrast only by women.26 For three months of the year (March, April, May) the men went to the women, who then brought up the children, keeping the males until the age of puberty. The poverty of the land simply could not support the mixed population living together for the whole year. They lived on rice, milk and meat, and exported precious amber and dried fish (Polo, 1912, § 184). They were all Nestorians under the authority of the island of Scara (or Scotra or Soccotera in other editions27 ), which lay 500 miles further to the south and was also populated by Nestorians, with an archbishop who, in his turn, was subject to Baldac.28 The inhabitants of Scara went around naked and traditionally were able to cast spells: for example, they had the power to control the winds and storms and to use them to turn back ships that had ventured too close.29 Scara also produced amber (probably really ambergris). The island was frequented by sailors landing there, among them the corsairs who came there to sell the fruit of their plunder, which was bought by the local people because it was stolen from Muslims or idolators, but not from Christians (Polo, 1912, § 185). More than a century later another Venetian, Niccolò de’ Conti, sailed across the Indian Ocean, pushing beyond the Malacca Strait (1415–1439). Having decided finally to return to his homeland, he took ship westward from Calcutta and in two months had passed beyond the Laccadives, crossed the Arabian Sea and landed at Zocotera (or Sechutera30 ), around 100 miles from Capo Guardafui, the most easterly point of Africa. The description is succinct, albeit interesting; the island measured 600 miles in circumference, but the only merchandise of value produced was the excellent aloe zocotrino (Socotra aloe). The greater part of the population was Nestorian Christians. There were two other islands nearby, in one of which lived only men, and in the other only women; the two groups met for three months in each year (Conti, 1979). The Nestorian Christian tradition of Socotra emerges from the odeporic accounts of these Venetian voyagers. Polo gives more information and underlines the local people’s lack of navigational skills, so that they relied for trade upon the ships of other peoples (as already mentioned in the Periplus). But he also observes the difficulties caused by the winds, which, however, the people of Socotra controlled by magic, thus enabling them to use the winds against the ships and corsairs that crossed the ocean.

26

Comparable to the Amazons, a wandering Greek myth like so many others recorded by Strabo (IX, 5. 4–5). 27 A toponym traceable to the Arabic term by which the island was then named. On the name’s origin see Yule (1875, p. 400). 28 Baghdad, where the seat of the Nestorian patriarch had been transferred. 29 Reminiscent of the myth described in the Periplus linked to the impossibility of stealing the incense protected by divine power. 30 According to the Latin version of Poggio Bracciolini (1732, IV, pp. 138–9).

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10 Voyages to Old and New Worlds Readers may by now have become discouraged by the scant facts on Socotra so far recorded and consider them only faint traces of little significance, but their presence in travel writing is of vital importance. This information, contextualized in the traceable sources of the period, for the quantity and quality of what they refer, they are evidence of the interest in this little island at the very edge of the known world. Certainly, mysterious and fabulous, perhaps even in the light of the available evidence, but still promising from the point of view of the continuity of the mythical imagery inherited from the past. A quite extraordinary cartographic monument of the late Middle Ages, the celebrated Mapamondo of Fra Mauro, presents the sum of mediaeval Mediterranean knowledge, from the ancient sources on the Asian continent to the contemporary. It gives us a splendid picture of Socotra, whose iconographic importance can only be understood in the light of the West’s reborn interest in trade with the Indian Ocean, and the hope that this island outpost could be revived for the use of merchants and hence the benefit of the courts of that era. Fra Mauro had used both Marco Polo and Niccolò de’ Conti as his treasure-trove and the large island of Sochotra can be clearly seen, lying to the south of Arabia Felix, between Muria, Curia and Abbelcuria. The caption explains that it was in the Persian Sea, close to the entrance to the Red Sea. The population were Christian and knew how to use magic for the benefit of navigation. The drawing is beautifully crafted: at the center of the island is a green mountain from which falls a watercourse; then there are hills, trees, and huts. A number of buildings indicate important centers of population with two of the largest and best developed on the western coast, the greater of which, walled and turreted, must be the city of Sochotra. A large ship with full sails is coming towards the island from the Gulf of Aden (Fig. 4). Some decades late, in the period when Cristoforo Colombo was discovering a new continent across the Atlantic Ocean, the German Martin Behaim completed his famous globe, the Erdapfel (“Earth apple”). Cartographer, astronomer, and navigator, he pictures the world as it was then known, dedicating a large extent to the Indian Ocean and Eastern Asia, a destination which he scrupulously filled with the information then circulating in Europe and in those European courts most interested in exploration. On the Erdapfel we find Scotra alongside Masculinæ and Feminæ, all with a blue flag with a silver cross, clearly referring to the population’s Christian religion. Behaim’s source for the information accompanying the illustration was clearly and admittedly Marco Polo. The largest dimension of the islands is of primary significance, deriving as it does from the popularity of late mediaeval travel writing coupled with the dearth of current information on the area. As we know, in a few years this situation was rapidly to change (Fig. 5).

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Fig. 4 The island of Sochotra in the Mare Arabicum as it appears in Fra Mauro’s Mapamondo (c. 1460. https://mostre.museogalileo.it/framauro/it/esplorazione-interattiva/esplora-la-mappa.html)

Fig. 5 Reproduction of Behaim’s globe detail (1492). Courtesy of The Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering & Technology (https://catalog.lindahall.org/discovery/delivery/01LIND AHALL_INST:LHL/1289476440005961)

11 From Commerce to Conquest In the fifteenth century the Portuguese embarked upon an important campaign of exploration and exploitation of the Atlantic coasts of Africa, with the aim of passing round the southern end of the continent and thereby opening up a new trade route directly to the riches of the East. And so, as we all know, between 1497 and 98 Vasco da Gama became the first European to round the Cape of Good Hope and from there reach Calcutta in India, leading the way for his successors. Since then, Portugal sent a regular fleet, known as the Armada da Índia, charged with the task

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of making their presence known and securing supplies of spices and merchandise. The competition with merchants who were already operating along these routes involved the implementation of a clear and forceful strategy of military conquest, which, within a few years, enabled the Portuguese to control several fundamental military outposts. Socotra was initially selected as one of these due to its geographical position. The story ends quickly, essentially with failure and then abandonment because of the characteristics of the island, which had been known since GrecoRoman times: the scarcity of local resources and the difficulty of making landfall because of the currents. The brief period of fortune, however, left traces and was recorded in the documents of the time. Among the many historical works of the period the principal source for reconstructing these years are the Commentarios de Afonso Dalboquerque. He was among the greatest of the protagonists and, scattered through this account, there are many interesting details which enable us to form a more defined picture.31 We learn from the Commentarios that Diogo Fernandes Pereira, a participant in the Quinta Armada, landed on Socotra in 1503 and remained there through the storm season. News about the island began to circulate among the captains and at court. King Manuel himself found the information of interest: he knew that Christians and apparently not under Islamic control. Again, we learn that in 1506 Tristão da Cunha, after sailing along the Mozambique coastline, directed his ships to the north to go and occupy Socotora (or çocotora).32 According to the captain, Afonso de Albuquerque, the whole fleet entered the island’s principal post, Coco, where they found much of the population (Albuquerque, 1557, p. XXIII). Just in front of Coco was a small but strong fortress, built by the Arabs of Arabia’s southern coast (called fartaquis). After studying the shoreline to identify possible landing places, the Portuguese laid siege to the fort, which ended with the suicide of the entire Muslim garrison, who did not want to fall into the hands of the unbelievers. The fortress was immediately repaired and rebuilt, with lime and stone, within a very short space of time—so it is written, although there is cause to doubt this. When finished, it was given the name of San Miguel.33 At that point the conquest was seen as a potentially valuable investment 31

Afonso de Albuquerque was a complex figure: general, admiral of the naval army, he was appointed second viceroy of India and first duke of Goa for the decisive role he had in the conquest of the Portuguese colonial empire in the East. The Commentarios, of course, are an extremely subjective and celebratory text, as well as very oriented by the son of Albuquerque, Afonso, to build the official historiography of the Portuguese expansion and, at the same time, exalt (and defend) the memory of his father. The documentary basis used were the letters written by the capitam geral & governador da India to the then king of Portugal, Dom Manuel I. Despite the strongly “biased” nature, the work appears to be a very rich source of elements that allow a critical reading of the facts narrated. As in this case. 32 In the Portuguese sources of the time both çocotora and Socotora are used. 33 From the time of their first voyage around the Cape of Good Hope, the Portuguese first met and then began to understand the workings of the periodic currents: the sources tell us that they learnt at first from the Arab pilots at Malindi who worked Africa’s east coast and then benefitted from the experience of men whom they met at Socotra. In the Commentarios, for example, we read that Afonso de Albuquerque was accompanied during the siege of the future San Miguel by an Arab, named Marfez, who had helped on the voyage towards the peninsula and then onwards to Hormuz

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and the captainship of the island was therefore entrusted to Afonso de Noronha, a cousin of Albuquerque, and the governorship to his brother-in-law, Fernão Jacome. When da Cunha left for India in 1507, Albuquerque divided up the lands and palmgroves among the Christian population and transformed all the mosques into churches. In the Commentarios there is much emphasis upon the work undertaken by the Portuguese to defend the island’s Christians, who were threatened and harassed by the Muslims. We read that the Franciscan brother, Antonio de Loureiro, was entrusted, with other members of his religious order, with the task of instructing the Socotrans in the true faith, equipped with the numerous ornaments and equipment necessary for doctrinal teaching. However, the gulf between the uplifting reconstruction and the harsh facts emerges from these same pages. The local people, after the first moment of hope, showed their unwillingness—and there were indeed objective difficulties— to provide supplies for the Portuguese garrison left to protect the fort of San Miguel. According to another old story, the goodwill of these “wild” Christians had been corrupted by the despicable actions of the Arabs who had lost control of the island. We also read of the hardships and hunger suffered by the European soldiers, who very soon, at the end of 1507, wrote to the Portuguese king asking that the outpost be left unprotected (ibid.). In the eyes of the Portuguese court, however, Socotra could still be a useful outpost for controlling ships passing towards the Red Sea, a delusion which soon faded. By the end of 1509 Albuquerque had understood that the three harbors which controlled the central areas of the main trading route were strategically more important: namely Aden (controlled by the Arabs), Hormuz (Persian), and Malacca (Malaysian). Socotra was therefore more or less abandoned and with it the population who, deluded by the broken promises and harassment, inevitably returned to living under the fartaquis, the coastal Arabs. The initial enthusiasm aroused by Socotra is shown by a famous nautical map based on information at the Portuguese court at the beginning of the century (the Padrão real), the Carta del Cantino. Here, between the African coast, already shown as subject to Portugal as far as the Gulf of Aden, and the Indian coast, also under the Portuguese flag from Goa to Calcutta, there appears the large red island of çacotora, on which there is a city, Calissia (Kalleesa today), placed, however, incorrectly to the west (Fig. 6).

12 The End of the Myth: Brief Conquest and Abandonment Another text is useful for reconstructing the events of the second era of strong interest in Socotra, following the earlier period of relevance during the Roman Empire as made evident by the Periplus. We refer to the Suma oriental that was written between 1513 and 1515 by the apothecary Tomé Pires, who had been charged by King Manuel (Albuquerque, 1557). This is perhaps one of the authors of the maps of Arabia mentioned in the chronicles.

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Fig. 6 Detail with the çacotora island from the Carta del Cantino (1502). The legend indicates the richness in dates and livestock (https://edl.beniculturali.it/beu/850013655)

to accompany the voyages with the purpose of securing drugs for the Portuguese.34 At the start he had direct experience of the lands and stages of the routes towards the Arabian Sea and showed a capacity for sharp observation and lucid analysis. Pires paid tribute to the wealth and position of Aden, where the Portuguese launched a very strong but unsuccessful assault under Afonso de Albuquerque. Aden’s central importance emerges from the trade with “all the Indies” which was concentrated there, from Bengal to Siam, from Malacca to China, so indicating the geographical horizons which Aden dominated. In this list of marvels, the products of Socotra also appear: aloe, herbal medicines, and dragon’s blood, or Dracaena cinnabari (Pires, 1979, I). Pires emphasizes the power of the Islamicised Arabs who controlled trade in the Arabian Sea. An extraordinary drawing which corresponds to the truth is found in one of the maps in the O Livro de Francisco Rodrigues, which appeared at the same time

34

Tomé Pires’ odeporic source has different characteristics than the previous one of Albuquerque. Although the Suma oriental is also dedicated to the king of Portugal and tells the events that occurred at the beginning of the Lusitanian expansion, it was not written by a military man, but by a merchant with a good culture who had to deal with the procurement of spices, but for his abilities he was commissioned to become an ambassador to the Far East. For these reasons the contents of the work are more varied and broads, devoting attention to many and different aspects of the historical and geographical, cultural, and economic realities encountered on the “spice route”. His experience in the East was lengthy, from 1511 until his death (c. 1524) and he thus acquired a remarkable knowledge: from India, to Goa, to Malacca, then straight to China, to Canton.

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as the Suma (c. 1515).35 It is extracted from the nautical chart showing the coasts of southern Arabia, the Horn of Africa, and part of the Red Sea, which correctly places the ilha de çacotera in an (unnamed) archipelago, a short distance from the African cape and with realistic dimensions (cf. Cortesäo 2005, plate XII English edn. fol. 27, p. 520). To complete the picture, which can be redrawn thanks to the information provided by Portuguese travel writings, we can note another notable witness to the conquest of the Indian Ocean: Duarte Barbosa. His Livro—written around 1516—gives information in agreement with the foregoing. It records the large island of Zacotora, with many high mountains, inhabited by an olive-skinned people who went about naked. They owned many cows and castrated bullocks, palms, and date-trees, so they ate milk, meat and dates. According to the Arabs, it was the island of the women, or of the Amazons, who were then mixed with the men; Barbosa recognizes this ongoing tradition from the fact that the women were free to make their own decisions. He also confirms the events which were described in the Commentarios, that the Arabs of Fartas had constructed a fortress to control the island and keep its people in slavery, but the Portuguese fleet had taken it by force and the captain had left men and artillery there to hold it in the name of the king (Barbosa, 1979, p. 563). To have finally a full description of Socotra, of its natural characteristics and its social situation, we need to turn to the account of a voyage written by an Italian, the Florentine Andrea Corsali.36 The merchants of the great Italian mercantile foundations played a most important role in the conquest of the Indian Ocean, very often taking part in armed combat although these were not military expeditions. Corsali was one of those who provided information free of any myths. In 1517 he wrote his second letter, addressed to Lorenzo de’ Medici, of his stay in the East under Portugal, an era in which he was a notable protagonist. He described navigation in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, as far as Cochin in India, and included his experience of Socotra. Corsali’s description is the most detailed which we have, and remarkably modern, viewed through a merchant’s eye, sensitive to and observant of any possible trading opportunities.37 He also demonstrates his cultured and educated background, observing that the island was only recently discovered and would have been unknown in the days of Ptolemy since in that era men did not venture into the open seas. He also shows 35

As in the Parisian copy of the text, kept at the Chambre des Deputés [1248 (ED), 19], Tomé Pires’s Suma was published together with the Livro and maps by Francisco Rodrigues, edited by Armando Cortesão, first in Portuguese, then in English (Pires, 1979, 2005). 36 Being Italian, better Tuscan, Corsali did not have to participate in the reconstruction of the historical facts that they had seen as the Portuguese affirming their power in the East, he was more detached and freer to make his observations and evaluations. His letters are much more critical and problematic, they are documents written by an intellectual who had a commercial interest outside the military and administrative control needs of the Lusitanian crown (cf. Luzzana Caraci, 1996). 37 Corsali observes how the Portuguese had in a short time and by force of arms conquered a huge empire, from the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf to the Strait of Malacca and China, building many cities, castles, and fortresses, which they kept stocked and in contact with each other thanks to the sea fleets always on the move to give each other rescue. He judges them “lords of the sea” and masters of impregnable strategic points.

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attention to geography and nautical cartography, not least in his ability to understand navigational references, and he is very precise in giving distances, latitude, and longitude.38 Setting sail from Goa on the 8th of February 1516, Corsali reached Soquotora at around 13º of latitude, in 22 days sailing. He gives the distances from India as 320 western leagues, and from Capo Guardafuni (in ancient times called Zinghis Promontorium at 12º of latitude) in Ethiopia and the Costa di Fratacchi in Arabia Felix as 30 and 40 leagues respectively. The perimeter of the island measured 15 leagues and the land was a sterile desert, even although the mountains guaranteed an abundance of rivers and water. As the navigator-merchant reports in his letter, the island was inhabited by Christians of Ethiopian origin, with black curly hair, longer than in Ethiopia. They ate meat, milk, and dates from which they also made bread. They went around almost naked, covering only their lower parts, like the less developed people of India, Arabia, and Ethiopia. They had no king, but the coastal cities were run by merchants from Arabia Felix who controlled the maritime traffic. Due to the land’s unproductive nature, they had very few goods to trade, just dragon’s blood and aloe, and from the shore they gathered grey amber. Corsalis was struck by the chameleon, an animal yet unknown which he describes in minute detail in its similarities and differences to the lizard, and also, obviously, its extraordinary ability to change colour. On the island there were many cities (better described as villages), whose houses were made of branches of the date palm; the churches were like the mosques and had altars—which corresponds to the story of how Albuquerque had converted the mosques into Roman Catholic churches. Corsali, who visited the island but also gathered information from those who had been there earlier, had little to say on religion, but he had been told that an apostle of Jesus (St Thomas) had converted the people, and this was why they still worshipped the cross. They all attended Sunday mass and on holidays the priest—called abbune—also administered justice.39 Another extract from Corsali’s text is historically very interesting. He tells us that at that time (1516 or 17 at the latest) the fortress of San Michele, taken from the Arabs by the Portuguese in 1507, was then abandoned because of the wild and unproductive land, and so the Arabs returned to control Socotra. The people retreated inland to the mountains and now refused to have any contact with Christians, whom they feared (Corsali, 1979). 38

Corsali remembers Ptolemy, he evidently knew his Geography, and says that in his time Socotra, like many other islands, was unknown to sailors who did not go far from the coast. If we pay attention to the words used we can understand that the Florentine had good information, substantially correct, that he intended to argue that the Mediterranean sailors in ancient times did not sail up to those latitudes, but that they knew the existence of Socotra for indirect information (Socotra is in fact quoted by Ptolemy), since it says that in its time it was discovered again—rediscovered—by the Portuguese. 39 This means that contact with the Nestorian clergy had already been interrupted, as was also reported by Francis Zavier, the Apostle of the indies, some years later, in 1542. According to Zavier the Socotran “priests” (cacizi) were elected by the people, had no religious training and knew nothing of baptism. None of them could read or write and they recited orations from memory, repeating words whose meaning they did not understand.

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With Andrea Corsali, Socotra ceased to be an island at the edge of the known world and took on its own firm geographic identity. At the end of the 2nd decade of the sixteenth century it was clear that the island’s poverty made it impossible as a post for resupplying ships, apart from water. It had been proved to have little importance in the control of difficult routes through the open seas, in comparison to the coastal routes and had even lost the allure of magic, linked to the other myths that had been attached to the island over the centuries. But her fixed position on the Portuguese nautical charts was now transferred, together with the relevant descriptions, to printed maps and accounts of voyages. The reality and experience of the voyagers prevailed over her myths, modernity was by now firmly established and at least in well-trodden and frequented areas, the island was freed from the beliefs of the Middle Ages. We conclude this journey through the odeporic literature and historical cartography with two illustrations. We start with the first great collection of travel literature, made in Italy in the second half of the sixteenth century: the Navigazioni et viaggi of Giovanni Battista Ramusio.40 An erudite with a vast network of contacts in the various European courts and beyond, officer at the service of the Serenissima Repubblica of Venice, Ramusio brought together and published much varied material related to voyages and travels of the past and of his own times, collecting the accounts of his contemporaries. He collaborated with the cartographer Giacomo Gastaldi, Piedmontese but transferred and operating in Venice, in drafting a modern geography based upon precise information furnished by travelers through the ages. Gastaldi had the task of drawing updated maps of the continents and based his drawings upon the information drawn from Italian and Portuguese merchants who had taken part in opening the routes to the east, and also on the letters of Andrea Corsali, which were published in the Navigazioni. Gastaldi’s map of Africa has Socotra (Zacotora) correctly positioned off Capo Guardafuni. There are no Utopian societies, not only because of the scale, no homes of the gods, crocodiles, phoenixes or Amazons. It is a large island but not enormous as in the Carta del Cantino, and is delimited by clearly-drawn coastlines (Fig. 7). We conclude our journey into travel literature and historical cartography relating to Socotra by reporting here one last map that plastically shows the opening of the European geographical horizon in the mid-sixteenth century. Giacomo Gastaldi’s planisphere is clearly anchored in the experiences and voyages of his contemporaries. The planisphere was made to illustrate an updated edition of Strabo’s Geographia, for which it is given in an oval projection. Here Socotra, correctly, is an island off the African coast, so small as to leave no space even for its name.41 An island, together with others which interrupt the great stretch of ocean, points, or hubs, of now global trade (Fig. 8).

40

A model for the collections of odeporical reports of the following centuries and a fundamental reference in the history of world literature. 41 In a later table, Asiæ nova descriptio (1574), Gastaldi recovers the classical tradition by identifying the island as Zocotora olim Dioscuriada.

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Fig. 7 Modern table of Africa by Giacomo Gastaldi accompanying the Navigazioni et viaggi by Giovanni Battista Ramusio, 1550. The Zacotora island is on the left (David Rumsey Map Center, copy 1: Norwich no. NOR 0006. purl.stanford.edu/cp644gp2966)

Despite the fact that at least since the mid-sixteenth century Socotra has acquired its correct geographical position in cartography, from a certain point of view, simplifying, we can still say that, even today, it retains the fascination of the “island on the edge of the ecumene”. The world has changed, but Socotra and its inhabitants still maintain a liminal position. Obviously, this is not necessarily a good thing. The problems of contemporaneity evidently and strongly present themselves here. The long-term data is that today, as in the past, the Socotrans do not dominate contacts with the outside, but due to their geographical position they are reached by the echoes of the outside world. Thus, the island of Socotra is still a small distant world, in which it is necessary to work to promote the growth of local society while preserving its cultural identity, local knowledge and the relationship with nature. Just one note to end this brief excusion into the myths blossoming around Socotra. A ridge on the surface of the planet Mars—alongside Utopia—records the mysterious Panchaia imagined by Euhemerus.42 It might only be a reference, a cultural tribute of some humanist of our times employed by NASA or of an astronomer enamoured of the classics, but in our eyes it is a tangible sign that mankind’s fantasies and the 42

Dioscuria also found a reference on the surface of Mars. However, the reference is not to the island in the Indian Ocean of which we have spoken, but to the Greek city of Sparta where the Dioscuri were born (https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/1544).

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Fig. 8 The Universale Novo by Giacomo Gastaldi in an edition of Claudio Tolomeo’s Geography published in Venice on 1548 (David Rumsey Historical Map Collection, List No: 11479.129. https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~291377~90063105:UniversaleNovo?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:Uni versale%20novo;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No; lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=1&trs=3)

tendency to dream of mystical places has never stopped at the edges of the known world. The dreams do not die, the myths are reborn in themselves, like the Arabian phoenix—they shift, ever further away, and transcend the known limits by circling towards worlds that are always further off, extraterrestrial. Perhaps one day we shall update our short story with the explorations of that part of the planet Mars.43

43

We can see images of the crater and patterned ground in Panchaia Rupes, linear fractures due to glacial processes, on the northern hemisphere of Mars (https://www.uahirise.org/ESP_036813_ 2445 and https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08622).

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References Albuquerque, A. (1557). Commentarios de Afonso Dalboquerque capitão geral e gouernador da India, collegidos por seu filho Afonso Dalboquerque. Barreyra. Arriano. (1979). Navigazione dal Mar Rosso fino alle Indie secondo Arriano. In M. Milanesi (Ed.), Navigazioni e viaggi di Giovanni Battista Ramusio (Vol. II, pp. 497–536). Einaudi. Barbosa, D. (1979). Libro di Odoardo Barbosa. In M. Milanesi (Ed.), Navigazioni e viaggi di Giovanni Battista Ramusio (Vol. II, pp. 537–709). Einaudi. Barros, J. (1979). Dall’ “Asia” di Giovan de Barros. In M. Milanesi (Ed.), Navigazioni e viaggi di Giovanni Battista Ramusio (Vol. II, pp. 1039–1085). Einaudi. Bracciolini, P. (1723). Historiae de varietate fortunae libri quatuor. Coustellier. Castanheda (de), F. L. (1924–1933). História do escubrimiento e conquista da India pelos portuguêses, 1552–1561. Colleção de monumentos ineditos para la historia das conquistas dos Portugueses. Impresa da Universidade. Cattaneo, A. (2011). Fra Mauro’s Mappa Mundi and Fifteenth-century Venice. Brepols. Conti, N. (1979). Viaggio di Nicolò di Conti. In M. Milanesi (Ed.), Navigazioni e viaggi di Giovanni Battista Ramusio (Vol. II, pp. 781–820). Einaudi. Conti, N. (1723). In P. Bracciolini (Ed.), Historiae de varietate fortunae libri quatuor (pp. 126–152). Antonio Urbani Coustellier. Corsali, A. (1979). Due lettere dall’India di Andrea Corsali. In M. Milanesi (Ed.), Navigazioni e viaggi di Giovanni Battista Ramusio (Vol. II, pp. 3–74). Einaudi. D’Ascenzo, A. (2021). Corsi e ricorsi geo-storici. In viaggio fra i viaggi intellettuali di Massimo Quaini per il CISGE. In C. Masetti (Ed.), Massimo Quaini e il CISGE (pp. 113–135). Centro Italiano per gli Studi Storico-Geografici. Dematteis, G. (2021). Geografia come immaginazione. Donzelli. Diodoro Siculo. (1542). Delle antique historie fabulose nouamente fatto volgare. Ferrari. Elie, S. D. (2020). A post-exotic anthropology of Soqotra, cultural and environmental annexation of an indigenous community (Vol. II). Springer. Evans, R. (2008). Utopia Antiqua: Readings of the Golden Age and decline at Rome. Routledge. Falchetta, P. (2006). Fra Mauro’s world map. Brepols. Gosselin, M. (1808). Recherches sur les connaissances géographiques des Anciens le long des côtes méridionales de l’Arabie. Histoire de l’Academie Royale des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres (Vol. 49, pp. 750–783). Imprimerie Impériale. Gray Birch (de), W. (2016). The commentaries of the Great Afonso Dalboquerque, second viceroy of India. Routledge. Humboldt (von), A. (1836–1839). Examen critique de l’histoire de la géographie du nouveau continent…. De Gide. Luzzana Caraci, I. (1996). Scopritori e viaggiatori del Cinquecento (pp. 447–507). Mondadori. Olschki, L. (1937). Storia letterarie delle scoperte geografiche. Olschki. Pires, T. (1978). A Suma Oriental de Tomé Pires e o livro de Francisco Rodrigues, leitura e notas de Armando Cortesão. Universidade de Coimbra. Pires, T. (1979). Sommario delle Indie Orientali. In M. Milanesi (Ed.), Navigazioni e viaggi di Giovanni Battista Ramusio (Vol. II, pp. 711–780). Einaudi. Pires, T. (2005). In A. Cortesão (Ed.), The Suma Oriental of Tomé Pires… and the book of Francisco Rodrigues (Vol. II). Asian Educational Services. Plinio. (1561). Historia naturale di G. Plinio Secondo divisa in trentasette libri, tradotta per M. Lodovico Domenichi. Ferrari. Polo, M. (1827). Il Milione di Marco Polo testo di lingua del secolo decimoterzo, a cura di Giovanni Battista Baldelli Boni. Pagani. Polo, M. (1912). Il Milione. Secondo il testo della “Crusca”, reintegrato con gli altri codici italiani, a cura di Dante Olivieri. Laterza. Ravenstein, E. G. (1908). Martin Behaim, his life and his globe... With a facsimile of the globe printed in colours, eleven maps and seventeen illustrations. George Philip & Son.

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Saverio, F. (1991). Dalle terre dove sorge il sole: lettere e documenti dall’Oriente, 1535–1552. Città Nuova Editrice. Teixeira Da Mota, A. (1963). Méthodes de navigation et cartographie nautique dans l’Océan Indien avant le XVII siècle. Junta de investigações do Ultramar. Ubaydi, A. (1989). The population of Suqutra in the early Arabic sources. In Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies (Vol. 19, pp. 137–154). Yule, H. (1875). The book of Sir Marco Polo the Venetian (Vol. II). Murray. Zurla, P. (1806). Il Mappamondo di Fra Mauro camaldolese descritto e illustrato. Venezia, s.e.

Palm Cultivation in Socotra: An Essential Part of Daily Life and Cultural Heritage Ahmad Abdelmoniem Zedan and Ahmed Saeed Suliman Abdullah

And We placed therein gardens of palm trees and grapevines and caused to burst forth therefrom some springs (Quran, Surat Yasin, Verse 34)

1 Introduction The Socotra Archipelago in Yemen is internationally recognized for its exceptional biodiversity and endemism on land and in water. The archipelago lies in the western Indian Ocean, 380 km southeast of the coast of Yemen and 100 km east of the Horn of Africa (UNESCO, 2022; Van Damme & Banfield, 2011). It consists of four islands, Socotra—the largest—Samha, Darsa, and Abd al Kuri (Riccardi et al., 2020; Van Damme & Banfield, 2011). Socotra island’s highest populated cities are Hadiboh—its capital—and Qalansiyah. According to the locals, Socotra’s population is currently 70,000 people, consisting of around 14,000 families. Possessing an outstanding universal value, Socotra is characterized by its accommodation of endemic flora and fauna where 37% of its plant species, 90% of its reptile species, and 95% of its land snail species cannot be found anywhere else in the world (UNEP-WCMC, 2017). In recognition of Socotra’s exceptional biodiversity and highly vulnerable ecosystems, it was designated as a UNESCO Man and Biosphere (MAB) Reserve in 2003, included in the list of the 200 most distinctive global Ecoregions by the World Wildlife Fund, and its Detwah Lagoon was designated as a Ramsar Site in 2007, and finally designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008 (Riccardi et al., 2020; UNESCO, 2022). Until recently, Socotra was a politically and geographically

A. Abdelmoniem Zedan (B) Socotra Archipelago University, Hadibo, Socotra Island, Yemen e-mail: [email protected] A. Saeed Suliman Abdullah Representative of Yemen & Wetland Focal Point Ramsar, Socotra, Yemen © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 N. Slak Valek and A. A. Zedan (eds.), A Social View of Socotra Island, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4358-6_8

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isolated part of the Arabic Peninsula. Culture and nature in Socotra have been continuously shaping and reshaping one another over several millennia with little foreign intervention. As of late, deterioration of this culture-nature bond came as a result of natural and man-made factors affecting life for all kinds of species on the island. As UNESCO (2022) lists, these factors include the introduction of 126 exotic species (including the red palm weevil affecting palm trees introduced by imports to Socotra), urban development, tourism, plastic waste, coral mining, overgrazing caused by the 480,000 goats on the island (five times the number of humans), illegal poaching, illegal trade, green mining, overfishing, illegal trawling, cyclones, climate change, and cultural erosion. These factors were facilitated and accelerated by opening the island’s airport in the 1990s. The culture-nature bond in literature about Socotra is often depicted by indigenous inhabitants’ relationship to the iconic Dragon’s Blood Trees (UNESCO, 2022). However, there are no dedicated studies about palm trees which also play key economic and cultural roles on the island, and on which the inhabitants depend and preserve using their endangered language. Socotrans have unique palm cultivation methods that distinguish them from the rest of the world. Their palms are also unique in many ways. For example, flowering and production in the central regions of Socotra are very distinctive. While palms everywhere bloom once a year, palms bloom twice a year. The first starts in February and ends in July and is called Thamer Dayhi in Socotran. The second begins by the end of September and ends in January and is called Thamer Qayitha. Also, Socotrans use specific means to preserve their dates that are not used elsewhere. This chapter explores the relationship between palm trees and Socotra’s inhabitants, tackling their embeddedness in the livelihoods, traditions, culture, and language of the locals. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the importance of palm trees and their relation to the culture and daily life of Socotra residents. Specifically, we address the traditions of palm cultivation and their threats.

2 Methodology A mix of methods was employed to answer the research questions. Field visits to Socotra were conducted, samples of species and varieties on the field were studied, and the main observations on the processes and traditions surrounding palm tree cultivation were documented. In addition, 20 semi-structured interviews during 2022 were conducted with elderly locals, palm farmers, and indigenous people with traditional knowledge and expertise. Interview questions tackled the importance of palm trees in Socotra; palm introduction to the island; the economic importance of palm cultivation if any; date exportation if any; the types and variations of palm trees; processes and timelines of cultivation and harvesting; cultural traditions, rituals, and poems surrounding palm cultivation; and pests and other threats facing the conservation of palm trees. Interviews were done face-to-face in the field, specifically in scattered valleys containing palm plantations, while some further follow-up discussions took place remotely through online instant messaging. In addition, secondary

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data from a selection of existing studies was reviewed. The authors utilize their insider–outsider perspective. Although both researchers with vast knowledge and curiosity about Socotra and palm cultivation, their positionalities vary. One author is a Socotran local researcher and environmental specialist.

3 Literature Review This section reviews a selection of relevant literature on Socotra’s ecosystems, the importance of and threats to their conservation, and how palm trees play pivotal cultural and economic roles on the island. It was not until the last five decades— with the open of its airport and the increased conservation and development initiatives—that Socotra really opened up to the outside world, although it has known colonization earlier (Riccardi et al., 2020). Globalization then started to breach the island’s ancient geological and political isolation. Since then, many anthropogenic changes occurred demonstrated by increased trade by sea and air, modern roads, population growth, a decline in traditional land management, and expansion of the tourism industry and marketing the ‘paradise effect’ of the island. The rising development projects contribute to increased visitor numbers, dwindling of traditional expertise, and increased trade and introduction of alien species (Riccardi et al., 2020; Van Damme & Banfield, 2011). Van Damme and Banfield (2011) discuss the impacts of the rapid development that Socotra is undergoing over its unique ecosystems and biodiversity. They call for attention to the effects of pollution, degradation, and tourism that threaten the conservation of the island’s resources. In general, islands receive greater attention with regard to conservation because they are considered biological hotspots with unique taxonomy and rare habitat. While island biotas flourish because of their isolation from predators, they are more prone to extinction than continent biotas due to their small geographical ranges hence small population sizes. Although island biotas evolve and persist under strong climatic conditions over long periods, it is the human impact that causes the most, and most rapid, harm. They discuss four principal mechanisms by which humans diminish island biodiversity, namely direct predation, introduction of non-native species, dissemination of diseases caused by foreign competitors, and habitat degradation. As for the Socotran flora and fauna in specific, Van Damme and Banfield (2011) list five main threats: development infrastructure such as roads, fallback of traditional land management practices and harmful practices such as overgrazing, introduction of foreign species, collection of biota, and climate change. Conservation efforts should outweigh development. Local capacity for conservation should be capitalized on and further developed to address current and future threats. Local knowledge and expertise, the traditions for sustainable management which protected Socotra for so long are key to maintaining the landscapes and ecosystems in which outstanding biota occurred. As culture and nature are heavily intertwined on the island, disentangling them has dire effects on both. Modern development is a main disruptive force in this regard. Loss of culture

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would entail loss of healthy ecosystems and increased poverty. Language preservation is also as important in the protection of Socotra’s ecosystems. Socotran language recalls details of the island before current changes and holds the traditions that helped Socotrans preserve their resources. These values that the language hold are older than conservation science altogether which emerged around 30 years ago. The language passes down priceless knowledge, conservation traditions, and skills from generation to generation. This, again, emphasizes the importance of utilizing local knowledge and tradition which were proven successful and sustainable, because they are not merely distant scientists or businessmen who provide alien advice, but people who existed on the island for centuries and successfully coexisted with its unique biota (Van Damme & Banfield, 2011). Socotrans are the guardians of their island, and the ecosystem on the island as a cultural landscape. Thus, the importance of local traditions, practices, and needs are crucial for a successful conservation strategy (Riccardi et al., 2020). The unique tree diversity in Socotra has eminent cultural and ecological value. Not only that trees play a key economic role in the life of Socotrans being a source of food for humans and their livestock, providing building materials, etc., but also, they have integral ethnobotanical functions and roles to maintain Socotra’s ecosystem. As elsewhere in the world, trees shield the soil from sun and wind, prevent erosion, maintain soil fertility, and supply fuel for cooking and eating (Riccardi et al., 2020). Palm trees in specific have significant iconic as well as economic value. Besides fishing and livestock, date palms are traditionally one of the main sources of income widespread across Socotra. Given its current economic conditions and the protracted civil war in Yemen, Socotran livelihoods are heavily dependent on local production. Surrounded by vast local knowledge, date palms are deeply rooted in indigenous culture. People traditionally care for and nourish their date palms as much as their livestock (Witt et al., 2020). Caring for palms can also change the traditional shape of marriage in Socotra. Within a framework of prevalent patrilineal ortho-cousin marriages, the wives normally live in the house of the husband’s parents. However, there are some conditions in which matrilocal marriages take place in Socotra, one of which is where the wife’s parents have no one to take care of the palms and livestock. Further, in cases of divorce, one of the reasons that make Socotran women at ease with such decision is their economic self-reliance. The divorced woman returns to her paternal family and retrieves her property which includes palms, livestock, and utensils (Naumkin, 1995). There were more than four million date palms in Yemen between 2008 and 2012 (Ba-Angood, 2015). The dominant date cultivars in Yemen are namely Hamra, Mijraf, Sokotri, Serfaneh, Manasif, Tha’al, and Bqal. Cultivars are named after fruit shapes (e.g. brides fingers) or fruit color (e.g. Manasif and Ahmer). Some cultivars are named after specific areas; Sokotri is named after Socotra where dates are the primary commercial crop (Ba-Angood, 2015). Date palms are known—and recognized by UNESCO—for their historical role in reinforcing the connection between the inhabitants and the land. Traditions surrounding date palm in Yemen and the Middle East were documented in the Intangible Heritage list by

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the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in December 2019 (Witt et al., 2020). Caring for date palms is thus a part of the culture embedded in the everyday life, not merely an economic activity.

4 Results The information presented in this section is based on the aforementioned data collection methods.

4.1 Taxonomic Account According to Hamilton (1825), the date palm tree has the following taxonomic classification: Order:

Aceraceae

Genus:

Dactylifera

Type:

Phoenix

Scientific Name:

Phoenix Dactylifera

English Name:

Date Palm

Socotran Name:

Tamra

Arabic Name:

Nakhla

4.2 Geographical Distribution of Palm Trees on Socotra Island Through general observations of the distribution of the date palm tree during field visits, we find that the northern regions of Socotra Island are the most abundant regions in palm cultivation, followed by the central regions, and then the southern regions. Palm trees are almost non-existent in the east and west of the island due to the absence of current and permanent valleys there. Table 1 ranks the valleys of palm trees in Socotra by importance determined by quantity and quality of palm trees according to the opinions of the research participants.

166 Table 1 Names of valleys of palm trees on Socotra Island

A. Abdelmoniem Zedan and A. Saeed Suliman Abdullah

No.

Valley name

1

Tohaq Qafqaf Valley

Region North Socotra

2

Mabad and Mena to Debnah Valley

North Socotra

3

Shaq Valley off Haghar Mountains

North Socotra

4

Hadiboh Valley off Haghar Mountains

North Socotra

5

Qadeb Valley off Ruged

North Socotra

6

Nogher Valley off Aiheft

North Socotra

7

Qalansiyah Valley

North Socotra

8

Ghaidah and Ain Daqiso

Northwest Socotra

9

Dareho Valley

Center Socotra

10

Daferho Valley (estuary to south)

South Socotra

11

Damerko Valley (estuary to south)

South Socotra

12

Mafrehn Valley

Southeast Socotra

4.3 Palm Varieties in Socotra Varieties of palm trees are distributed in Socotra according to the prevailing climatic conditions in every valley and village; therefore, each region specializes in the cultivation of certain types of date palm trees. There are varieties that moved from one region to another. Some maintained their original names while others were given new names in their new locations. Multiple names may be given to one species or one name to two or more different varieties. For example, the suburbs of Hadiboh are famous for their Khail Sarafnah, and Nujed is famous for De Hadhal, Qadib Bahukom, and Qalansiyah. The study counted 53 types of date palms on Socotra Island alone. It is worth noting that no palm trees can be found in the rest of the archipelago. Palm trees can only grow where water is abundant (Christie & Daton, 2009). However, since 2021, UAE’s Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation—which has been providing humanitarian aid for Socotrans since the eruption of the civil war in Yemen in 2011 along with the Emirati Red Crescent (ReliefWeb, 2019)—introduced a number of species to AbdulKuri and Samha islands. Table 2 demonstrates the palm varieties, number of offshoots, spread, and other notes, as per Ba-Moftah et al. (2004) and as verified by research participants (Fig. 1; Table 3). It is worth noting that the dry raceme is dead raceme, from which rope is extracted for orchards and fish gargoyles.

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Table 2 Varieties of palms, their quality (as per the opinions of cultivators), number of offshoots, and spread No.

Type

Quality

No. of shoots

Spread

Notes The most widespread

1

Sarafna

Very good

8–11

High

2

Dakl Kalaskot Askot

Excellent

6–9

High Medium

3

Hokem

Good

8–11

4

Daisy Nakada

Medium

5–8

5

Dehadhal

Excellent

5–9

6

Samiho

Excellent

4–7

7

Mofek

Good

5–10

8

Baneh Bana

Medium

3–6

9

Shokhaya Shokayoh

Excellent

7–9

10

Frotet

Good

3–5

11

Dremhaten Dremhaten

Medium

3–6

12

Metkana

Medium

13

Galanoh Galana Good

Dark red

4–7 3–8

14

Sanenhen

Medium

3–8

Light red

15

Aghra Hamhar Khamher

Medium

3–7

Red

16

Labenah Hamhar

Medium

3–6

Red

17

Kol Zebr Zabrakl

Good

4–8

18

Makoky Makakah

Good

6–9

19

Naked Khagoloh

Medium

5–8

20

Damhell Damhelol

Medium

3–7

21

Nosea Noseoh

Excellent

8–11

22

Lebanena Lebanana

Medium

3–7

23

Bur Musy

Good

2–6

24

Kafeoh

Very good

2–5

25

Shamtet Dafrten Medium

3–7

26

Galehl Daferten Medium

3–7

27

Mahnenhen

Medium

4–6

28

Kadbehan

Medium

3–8 (continued)

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Table 2 (continued) No.

Type

Quality

No. of shoots

29

Qash

Very good

6–9

30

Honak

Medium

3–7

31

Barbosa

Excellent

4–8

32

Karmea

Medium

2–5

33

Dafertan

Medium

3–8

34

Hamhar

Medium

4–7

35

Dakrahen

Medium

5–7

36

Damsherr

Medium

5–7

37

Mardah

Very good

3–6

38

Kabahan

Medium

3–6

39

Habesheh

Good

5–9

40

Dafefehn

Medium

3–6

41

Hargala

Good

4–7

42

Aslb

Medium

5–8

43

Dahfelhenten

Medium

2–5

44

Kholasa

Excellent

7–9

45

Meshr

Medium

2–4

46

Karsa De

Medium

4–7

47

Kabsh De

Medium

2–5

Medium

48

Shaerher

49

Kadbehen

4–7

50

Daknether

3–6

Spread

Notes

Intruder type

5–8

51

Berhy

Excellent

5–8

Intruder type

52

Sokary

Excellent

4–7

Intruder type

53

Sultana

Excellent

4–6

Intruder type

4.4 Production of Varieties from Palm Shoots It was noted from observations and interviews that soil clay, the presence of water in the valleys, and the drift of tree leaves from mountains and hills surrounding them all contribute to boosting palm shoots around palm trees. The female palm gave the highest average production of offshoots, as the average palm production ranged from seven to 11 shoots. The highest yielding varieties of offshoots—where palm production reached 21 shoots—are Sarafana and Didhahl, whose fruits are very good to good; followed by the varieties Naqada Issa, and Kol Eskot with good fruits. Then comes Nusya variety with excellent fruits, which yields 15 shoots per palm tree. The least productive is Dimahal, with good fruits, giving three offshoots per palm tree.

Palm Cultivation in Socotra: An Essential Part of Daily Life and Cultural …

Fig. 1 Palm valley in Socotra. Taken by the author Table 3 Linguistic classification palm tree parts and their nomenclature in English and Socotran as per the locals

English

Socotran

Palm

Tamra

Branch and leaves

Has

Branch

Hasah

Fronds

Karbah

Leaf

Nosah

Trunk

Godaie/Godaa

Root

Shareha

Heart

Gadeeb

Fertilization

Nabet

Peduncle

Shamrakh

Small bunch

Akrah

Green fruit

Hela

Date Bain

Montsarah

Date Nageh

Halalah

Date Monasef

Karenah

Kholas dates

Beshrah

Date kernel

Aded

Raceme

Ashkah

Dry raceme

Foter

169

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Fig. 2 Palm field. Taken by the author

4.5 Flowering and Harvesting Timelines Flowering and production in the central regions of Socotra are very unique. Unlike the rest of the world, palms in these regions bloom twice a year. The first starts in February and ends in July and is called Thamer Dayhi in Socotran. The second begins by the end of September and ends in January and is called Thamer Qayitha. As for the rest of the regions on the island, flowering takes place as early as January, earlier than in the rest of Yemen. In the southern regions, it happens in early March. In the northern coastal strip from Ras Mumi to the Qalansiyah, it takes place from late February to late March. Flowering is followed by the monsoon season during which strong winds strike Socotra every year (Fig. 2). Harvesting dates vary from one region to the other. For example, in the areas of the northern coastal strip, from Arsel to Qalansiyah, harvesting takes place in July and August. In the southern and central regions, it takes place in August. The dates are artificially ripened, that is, by cutting the branches (Hasah) and spreading them on the roofs of houses, on the ground between the orchards, or in the yards. In the central and southern regions, dates are ripened in a different way by halving the date grains with a knife, removing the kernel, and spreading them on the roofs of houses and orchards. It is worth noting that spread kernels are covered at night from moist, a process that takes place only in the central and southern regions of Socotra.

4.6 The Pollination Process (Nebet) The pollination process is performed when the pod reaches its maximum growth, at the beginning of its splitting or denting, or when it splits longitudinally. During the flowering season, farmers collect the best male palm trees to use their inflorescences to pollinate female flowers. Also, pollination can occur naturally when the

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wind carries light dry pollen grains from the peduncle and males, or when insects, especially bees, carry a lot of pollen grains in their legs. Males mostly bloom before females, and one male produces from 15 to 25 pods (the number varies according to the type of males and the availability of food). Usually, stallions (indicators) start flowering from mid-January to April. Females begin to flower in early February until April. The number of seedlings carried by the female palm varies based on many factors, including the nutritional level of the palm and the environmental factors, and those stakes range from 10 to 15. Pollination in the northern regions from Socotra to Qalansiyah takes place from February until the end of March, while in the central regions, it begins by the end of February and ends in March. The southern regions start the process last, from March until early April. The process of pollination is called in Socotra (Nebet), the pollen (Naboot), the stallion (Masher), and the palm tree (Tamra). Deficient pollen can yield inedible fruit (Sha’arhar). In addition, increased pollination can result in burnt flowers. To prevent the burning of flowers, farmers choose the middle follicle among all the pouches to pollinate, to avoid tiring all pods. This results in yielding fruits of better quality. Proper pollination is inevitable for the production of crops. This process is thus performed with the utmost care and importance. If one step fails, the whole process fails.

4.7 Pruning (Ashiha) Pruning is an essential part of orchard management. As Sudhersan et al. (2015) explain, pruning makes room for new fronds to grow, curtails insect infestation, eases harvesting, and improves fruit quality. In Socotra, pruning is performed along with the start of the pollination process. It begins by cutting the unwanted shoots that appear in the heart of the palm or at the bottom of the head, where they don’t get enough nourishment and produce lower-quality fruits. Pruning continues mainly with the dead palm fronds and dead stems from the previous year. After a month to a month and a half, the rest of the unwanted stems are cleaned and trimmed. Pruning is preferably performed a month after the vaccination and purification of the small fruits that may otherwise infect insects and spread to other branches. This process is done with great care to avoid infections and lichens. The offshoots are also filtered from the dead remains of palm fronds to facilitate the collection of fallen ripe fruits. Pruning is often accompanied by watering, spraying, and cleaning all around the palm.

4.8 Fruit Thinning (Nekas) Fruit thinning, one of the creative and artistic processes, is essential for boosting fruit size and quality. It balances the palms’ vegetative growth and regulates their annual yield to avoid drought or death. It also helps reduce insects and pests that may

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Fig. 3 Palm fruit. Taken by the author

spread due to the presence of undesirable racemes. This process involves ordinal and distributive final touches to the loads and the necessary number of racemes and the direction and location of each raceme in the palm. This process takes place in the first two months from the beginning of the pollination season to its end (Fig. 3).

4.9 Dangling and Curving (Kefadah) Dangling and curving is a process that Socotran farmers perform after the dates have completed their growth to harden their sticks and arrange them around the berry. It involves distributing bars around palm fronds. Dangling and curving have several benefits including protecting the racemes from breakage and fall; protecting the fruits from falling which is likely if they are not collected around the raceme; protecting the palm in the stage of maturity and tenderness; and reducing the negative impact of extra raceme growth and weight gain, drought, and death.

4.10 Fruit Bunch Covering (Aifana) Covering the fruit bunches mainly contributes to protecting the fruits from some climatic threats, especially the monsoon winds that strike the archipelago in the fall season. It thus helps the farmer keep the ripe dates from falling due to the wind. Winds do not only threaten dates; many palms fall in various regions of Socotra, especially in the northern regions where the wind blows very strongly. Farmers cover the fruits to avoid breakage of the stalk from its bearer by tying it in a circular motion around the top of the palm. The stalks are cleaned to prevent pests, birds, and insects. Covering also helps preserve the quality of the dates and their spectacles and facilitates the

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Fig. 4 A sample of yielded dated. Taken by the author

picking process after the dates are ripe. Fruit is covered with dry palm fronds, and some halve the leaves until fruit soften during the (rotting) coverage. This covering process to preserve dates is unique to Socotrans and almost nonexistent anywhere else. Once an essential practice, the process of covering has diminished due to its cost, hecticness, and lack of experience of the new generations. Farmers currently prefer to tie the fruit bunches with palm fronds without the coverage. Khalifa Foundation has introduced alternative means of protecting the fruit, such as the use of green nylon bags (Fig. 4).

4.11 Irrigation As explained by our interviewees, the irrigation cost on Socotra is around 158 L/ palm. Using wells, palm farmers have a specific irrigation system. Once planted, the palm gets irrigated twice a week for a period of six months to a year. It then gets irrigated once every week or two until it reaches the flowering stage after seven to nine years of its planting. Afterward, palm trees become solely dependent on rain and torrential water. To protect orchards from uprooting and soil from erosion during floods, farmers surround orchards with stones. This especially takes place in the middle areas and slopes next to the valleys.

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4.12 Fertilization Farmers in Socotra depend on natural instead of artificial fertilizers. Remains of palms, animal feces, fallen leaves, and shrubs naturally get mixed with torrents, soil, and silt, naturally stimulating and fertilizing palm trees. While the local farmers have immense knowledge on the processes of palm cultivation, their lack of use of artificial fertilizers can be traced back to their unfamiliarity with it.

5 Discussion: Significance of Palm Trees for the People of Socotra The previous section has shown the key cultural practices and agricultural traditions surrounding palm cultivation in Socotra, several of which are only unique to Socotrans. With a demonstration of the depth of details attached to each of these practices and critical processes, the importance of palm cultivation for the locals becomes more evident. Economically, palm cultivation is one of the main sources of income for the locals besides fishing and livestock farming. Palm trees are a key source of food and livelihood for locals and a main nutrition source for their livestock and various endemic species on the island. They are widely grown throughout the island and many are dependent on them. Palm trees are an important form of capital. Earlier, locals exchanged land and property for palm groves. Currently, given the deteriorated economic conditions due to the civil war in Yemen, local production is inevitable for local livelihoods. As phrased by a couple of interviewed locals, whoever owns palm trees can survive the hardest times that hit Socotra. They thus describe the palm tree as the ‘tree of life’. Socotrans utilize all components of the palm tree. Its fruit is eaten and sold. The heart of the palm is also eaten, especially in times of drought and food scarcity. Its stems, leaves, and bark are used in building materials, house walls, making ropes, baskets, and other industries. Whole villages were built around palm trees. As one local put it, “In the past where there were very few—almost non-existent—industries, the date palm was considered a factory and a source of gain for every owner and farmer.” However, he explained that right now crafts made of palm parts are considered secondary sources of income besides pottery and wool. Another interviewee had a different input, explaining that since the sixties, government jobs are the primary source of income in Socotra while palm trees are secondary; dates have no significant commercial value and are used mainly for family consumption. He explains that dates do not generate financial profit for farmers because they are not exported to the Yemeni mainland or elsewhere. It was highlighted in the interviews that a date factory established by the Khalifa Foundation on the outskirts of Hadibu aims to help the locals produce exportable amounts of dates. The factory that should help with enhancing the fruit quality and packaging, and provide vast

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employment opportunities, is still under construction. Yet, as phrased by one interviewee and confirmed by almost all others, “Date palm is considered an essential income source for the residents of Socotra in general. Palm cultivation has many economic and commercial benefits at the local level; it is not exported abroad. It plays a key role in gift-giving and reciprocity in weddings, special occasions, tribal meetings, and work in various fields that would enhance the economic and living conditions of the Socotran man.” Inhabitants of the mountains and deserted areas in Socotra were drawn to live by the shadows of palm groves, where they built temporary houses or ‘quarries’. Migrants find in palm groves and valleys shelters and dwellings for many months, especially in the harvest season. As explained by the locals interviewed, Bedouins who have no palm trees would go to valleys and collect the fallen fruit. Many families who do not cultivate palms do the same. To ensure that no one benefits at the expense of others, locals arrange this among themselves and agree on certain dates and times when fruit collection is allowed. For example, fruit collection is allowed in the mornings and afternoons whereas the nights are for humans and animals who shelter in the valleys. Families find in the harvest season a chance to gather, and share their crops with those who do not own palms. It is customary for each family to have a friend who owns palms (mehref ). The palm owner shares the dates during the harvest season, and can also help these families by providing goat skin for wrapping dates (Fig. 5). Culturally, the vast knowledge pertaining to palm cultivation is deeply rooted in the indigenous culture and traditions. Cultivating palms is not merely an economic activity but a part of the everyday life of the locals, and a part of their cultural heritage to be inherited by generations to come. As shown, each process of palm cultivation, each cultivar, each fruit, and each tree part have names in the Socotran language. As per our interviews, there are poems cited while storing and mixing dates. A part of one of them says “knum hey roket karkan tamer” translating to “why mash the dates? To become fruit”. Thus, language is the bearer of this knowledge and these rich Fig. 5 A local palm cultivator. Taken by the author

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traditions, passing them through generations. As the new generations have started speaking Arabic and integrating it more into their daily lives, the Socotran language becomes endangered. Preserving local traditional knowledge, and preserving the culture as a whole, entail preserving the language.

5.1 Problems and Obstacles Facing Palm Cultivation in Socotra The substantially rich palm cultivation culture in Socotra is a heritage that should have effective means and strategies for preservation. Deeply rooted and practiced for years, cultivation knowledge and traditions do not encompass dealing with new and unforeseen challenges and threats. As will be discussed, these threats are both natural and man-made, or an intertwinement of both where anthropogenic impacts cause natural and biological hazards.

5.2 Palm Pests Local traditional knowledge and practices have been guiding palm cultivation in Socotra for decades. Locals are well aware of agricultural and preservation processes. However, there are no known and tested methods to face new and foreign challenges. Until today, the government does not invest attention and resources in agriculture and palm cultivation, especially in the distant and neglected archipelago. There is no capacity building or guidance provided to the locals to deal with arising threats. On top of these threats are the red palm weevil and the Dubas bug, palm pests that attack plantations in Socotra. The red palm weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineu) is an alien pest species spread on date palms in Socotra. The species is specifically spread on the northeastern coast of Socotra, within five km of the capital Hadiboh (Witt et al., 2020). Although known earlier in other areas such as in UAE since 1985 (Johnson et al., 2015) and on mainland Yemen in 2013 (Ba-Angood, 2015), the red palm weevil was not identified in Socotra until 2019 (Witt et al., 2020). The Dubas bug (Ommatissus lybicus), a sucking pest of date palms, was recorded in mainland Yemen in 2000 (Ba-Angood, 2015) and has been present in Socotra for several years, one estimation is 2005 (Witt et al., 2020). There are also threats from other pests, rodents and animals that feed on dates, and infectious diseases that affect palm trees. It is speculated that the spread of these pests is the result of the introduction of invasive alien species (IAS). The introduction of exotic species not only causes habitat alteration and genetic erosion but also increases the risk of new plant diseases, a factor increasing island extinctions (Van Damme & Banfield, 2011). IAS are among the main reasons of the extinction of endemic species on islands (Witt et al., 2020). Therefore, for an island distinguished by its biodiversity and endemism, alien species

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threaten the essence of Socotra and an imminent part of its culture—palm cultivation. The red weevil’s invasion exemplifies the risks associated with trade. As per the locals, the importation of palm shoots, especially Nargeel, and date palm trees such as Sajd, resulted in the introduction of exotic pests. Although their spread is so far limited to the vicinity of the Hadiboh basin and extends east to Wadi Dibba, the farmers are cautious and skeptical to use chemical control, an untraditional method they are not yet comfortable with. It is highly likely that this spread of the red palm weevil, along with the impact of the Dubas bug, cause a substantial negative effect on Socotran livelihoods, as dates are among the most important locally produced food besides milk and meat (Witt et al., 2020). Therefore, enhancing biosecurity strategies to protect traditional food production and biodiversity from further pest attacks is a pressing priority. Tables 4, 5, and 6 show the recorded pests, rodents and animals, and infectious diseases that affect palm plantations in Socotra as per Ba-Moftah et al. (2004), Witt et al. (2020), and research participants. Table 4 Pests recorded in palms and dates % of infection

Insect type

Place of infection

Batrachedra amydraula mery

94%

Fruit

Microcerotermes diversus

6%

Fruit, trunk and fronds

Oligonychus afrasiaticus (Mcliregor)

0

Oryctes rhinoceros (Linnaeus)

5%

Branch

Parlatoria blanchardi T

4%

Fronds of palms

Vispa orientalis F

0

Red palm weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus) (Olivier)

Palm, fruit core and trunk

Dubas bug (Ommatissus lybicus)

Branches and leaves

Table 5 Rodents and animals that feed on dates on Socotra Island Type of animal

Type of damage

Notes

Socotra scops owl

Feed on fruit

SOCOTRA SCOPS OWL (Otus socotranus) ENDEMIC resident breeder

Green pigeon

Feed on fruit

Bruce’s green pigeon (Treron waalia) Resident breeder Causes many serious damages to fruit

Rats

Feed on fruit and peduncle

Socotra starling

Fruit

Socotra starling (Onychognathus frater) ENDEMIC resident breeder

Somali starling

Fruit

Somali starling (Onychognathus blythii) Resident breeder

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Table 6 Diseases affecting palms and dates on Socotra Island Type of pest

Type of infection

Notes

Wet rot

98%

Alternaria spp Aspergillus spp Fusarium spp Penicillium spp

False smut

71%

Graphiola phoenicis

Leaf spots

61%

Thielaviopsis paradoxa Phomce spp Alternaria spp Helminthosporium spp

Physiological blade

0

Death of the heart of the palm

0

Black blight

0

Lack of elements

0

5.3 Climatic Threats Like the rest of the world, Socotra did not escape the repercussions of climate change. In recent years, Socotra was struck by hurricanes and depressions, the most severe of which was cyclone Chapala and Megh. The cyclone struck the archipelago on November 2015, causing the erosion of 37,000 palm trees (Fig. 6).

Fig. 6 Uprooted palm trees after cyclone Chapala and Megh. Taken by Ahmed Saeed Suliman, 2015

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6 Social Obstacles, Institutional Shortcomings, and Recommendations Perhaps one of the main challenges pertaining to palm cultivation in Socotra is the absence of specialized scientific research on the topic in specific. While the literature has tackled it remotely amidst more general issues, specialized research is a pressing need especially given the new developments and new repercussions and threats discussed. Research should capitalize on the existing vast indigenous knowledge and expertise and, further, aim to build local capacity on dealing with new challenges. Not only that scientific and academic research are required, but also technical people and practitioners are needed on the ground to discuss with locals the best practices for dealing with the existing threats and to reach together applicable and effective courses of action. Further, we noted some areas of improvement technically. These include dealing with soil erosion, and irrigation through a more efficient use of large amounts of rain that fall throughout the year. Technical practitioners can also provide useful recommendations to enhance the aforementioned practices. They can suggest environmentally friendly modern methods of performing pruning, pollination, harvesting, and among other processes. In addition, to avoid potential harm when dealing with pests, pesticides and poisons should only be reviewed and permitted by a specialized government authority—based on scientific experiments—before use. There are no adopted marketing strategies for Socotran dates. There are also no specialized markets where dates are showcased and sold, especially to outsiders. Given the current economic hardships, local production should be further encouraged and supported to improve local livelihoods. A call for investment from factories to package, market, and sell locally produced dates can be of great use. This could also relieve the high costs of palm cultivation processes in light of the current circumstances. The roads leading to valleys containing palm groves are mostly rugged. While we have reviewed literature on the negative ecological effects of new roads, we recommend well-researched and planned infrastructural development that balances between ecological conservation and facilitated access to palm plantations. Further, palm farmers are not provided any suitable and interest-free loans to support them. There is also an absence of associations and unions of farmers. Forming unions can help farmers unite their voices and raise their demands to the relevant authorities. A major social obstacle is the migration of the younger generations from the valleys to the capital Hadiboh in search of a better quality of life and higher incomes, and thus their reluctance to preserve the palm cultivation legacy. Further, their Arabic speaking endangers their old Socotran language and endangers with it their culture. Specialized culture conservation programs should strongly address these issues, and raise the awareness of younger generations on the importance of preserving such great heritage and cultural identity. Conservation efforts should be coupled with investments and enhancement in the income and quality of life of palm cultivators.

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7 Conclusion This chapter explored the significance of palm cultivation in Socotra and its importance for the Socotran people. In doing so, it provided in-depth descriptions of the steps and processes of cultivation such as pollination, pruning, irrigation, fruit thinning, and harvesting. These processes are embedded in the everyday lives of Socotrans, in their language, and in their heritage. Cultivation is not only an economic activity crucial for generating income and securing nutrition, but also a cultural legacy that has special traditions performed all year long. Palm cultivation and the culture attached to it continuously shape and reshape one another. Palm yields are shaped by farmers’ traditional practices, and farmers’ livelihoods are shaped by their yields. Hence, encouraging palm plantation and supporting palm growers in Socotra are substantial to conserving the rich cultivation culture, and enhancing the lives of its bearers. As discussed, many challenges, natural and institutional, negatively impact this precious apparatus. It is therefore important to join efforts against the Anthropocene and its anthropogenic threats. It is important to maintain the balance between development, investment, and facilitation of cultivation processes by introducing modern methods and building roads on the one hand, and traditional knowledge, practices, culture, and biodiversity on the other hand. Acknowledgements The authors would like to express their gratitude and acknowledgement to Fahmy Mohamed Al Ghatnany, Director General of Agricultural Marketing at the Ministry of Fisheries, Agriculture and Irrigation; Kay Van Dam, Expert, Scientist, and Environmental Specialist in Socotra; and Mr. Ali Omar Al Arkaby, for their invaluable input and guidance.

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Naumkin, V. (1995). Tribe, family and state in Mahra and Socotra: Traditional identities in the changing world. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 25, 99–105. ReliefWeb. (2019). UAE humanitarian help for Socotra continues, Khalifa Foundation says. ReliefWeb. https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/uae-humanitarian-help-socotra-continueskhalifa-foundation-says Riccardi, T., Malatesta, L., Van Damme, K., Suleiman, A. S., Farcomeni, A., Rezende, M., Vahalík, P., & Attorre, F. (2020). Environmental factors and human activity as drivers of tree cover and density on the Island of Socotra, Yemen. Rendiconti Lincei. Scienze Fisiche e Naturali, 31(3), 703–718. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-020-00923-9 Sudhersan, C., Sudhersan, J., Ashkanani, J., Al-Sabah, L. (2015). Date palm status and perspective in Kuwait. In J. M. Al-Khayri, S. M. Jain, & D. V. Johnson (Eds.), Date palm genetic resources and utilization (pp. 299–321). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9707-8_9 UNEP-WCMC. (2017, May 22). Socotra Archipelago. World Heritage Datasheet. http://world-her itage-datasheets.unep-wcmc.org/datasheet/output/site/socotra-archipelago UNESCO. (2022). Nature and people in the Socotra Archipelago. UNESCO Doha Office. https:// unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000381003 Witt, A., Hula, V., Suleiman, A. S., & Van Damme, K. (2020). First record of the red palm weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier) on Socotra Island (Yemen), an exotic pest with high potential for adverse economic impacts. Rendiconti Lincei. Scienze Fisiche e Naturali, 31(3), 645–654. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-020-00918-6

Potential for Tourism in Emerging Destinations: Case of Socotra Island Petr Šauer, Barbora Veselá, and Thao Duyen Nguyenová

1 Introduction With the development of living standards, both material and leisure, the demand for holiday travel is increasing. It is increasingly popular for people from the North to spend some of their winter holidays by the sea beach in a suitable, possibly exotic, destination (Slak Valek & Williams, 2018; Windsor, 2016). Such tourism represents a significant contribution to the national economies of countries where suitable natural and cultural conditions for such tourism exist and where suitable material conditions can be created for tourists (Karaoulanis & Vasiliki, 2018). Socotra Island is one such location. The project is dealing with the topic of winter exotic recreation of Czechs in traditional and new (less known, newly discovered) tourist destinations. The aim of the analysis was to find out how the recreation benefits differ between these two types of destinations. There is the list of first 10 top traditional destinations, where Czech like to go in winter, where Thailand and Maledives are at the first positions (Kdyjet, n.d.). Another source shows still not discovered destinations by Czech, where Senegal is one of them (Cestovni nemoci, n.d.). Socotra is not yet known by Czech, but it is listed among the exotic sites in Windsor (2016). The multicriteria analysis was applied to four selected destinations: Ko Chang in Thailand and the Maldives—representing the group of well-known destinations, and to Senegal and Socotra—representing new destinations, where the last one is of special interest in this book. The tourist group under observation in the project was defined as childless tourists under 30 years of age. This type of tourists was selected for several reasons: they like both traditional and new destinations (Štuková, 2022), they have a good chance to travel in winter not having children in school. Also, due to pandemic lockdowns in the period when the research was performed, this people were relatively easy to be approached as the research respondents on-line. P. Šauer (B) · B. Veselá · T. D. Nguyenová Prague University of Economics and Business, Prague, Czech Republic e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 N. Slak Valek and A. A. Zedan (eds.), A Social View of Socotra Island, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4358-6_9

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The results of the analysis could serve both governments and tour operators and agencies. Central or/and local governments can use such results for promoting a policy to improve conditions for tourism development. Tourist operators and agencies could get information from the research results for creating new interesting and well-targeted products for tourists to reduce risk from their business. The chapter is structured as follows: first presents very briefly the Weighted Sum Approach (WSA) as a specific multicriteria analysis method used for the analysis. In the next section, the special methodology for multicriteria assessment of utility from visiting destinations with a function of “winter exotic tourism” for people from abroad, particularly from “the North” is presented. In the last section, the application of the methodology to selected tourist destinations, including Socotra Island, is described. The potential for developing (sustainable) tourism in Socotra Island is presented briefly together with the results of the analysis.

2 Methodology Multicriteria analysis, namely the Weighted Sum Approach (Anton et al., 2020; Hwang & Masud, 2012; Saaty, 1994; Šauer, 1988), was used in the analysis. This method is based on the construction of a linear utility function. In our case, the total utility from visiting given touristic destination (total quality of recreation in the locality) X i is calculated as the weighted sum of the partial utilities, i.e., utilities from the individual criteria: u(X i ) =

11 

ri j ∗ v j

(1)

j=1

where i = 1, 2, …, 4 (number of destinations assessed in this research) j = 1, 2, …, 11 (number of criteria introduced to the research) r ij = quality of given criteria in given destination in points vj = normed weight of given criteria. The Fuller method (also known as pairwise comparison) and the Saaty matrix approach were used for getting the norm weights of the criteria. The weights were calculated as an arithmetical average obtained from individual respondents. Norm weights for individual criteria were calculated using formula (2). 11 

vk = 1

k=1

where k = 1, 2, …, 12 (number of respondents in the research).

(2)

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A scoring scale of 1–4 was selected for assessing the quality of the criteria in the destinations, where: 4 points represents fully satisfactory quality of the given criteria, 3 points are for the rather satisfactory quality, 2 points for rather unsatisfactory quality, 1 point is for the worst rating, i.e., unsatisfactory status of the criteria.

2.1 Selection of Criteria The criteria for evaluating destinations were first identified by a literature study. The most useful information was adopted particularly from the contents of articles dealing with tourists’ preferences for seaside recreation published in the peerreviewed Journal of Coastal Research and Journal of Coastal Conservation (Botero et al., 2013; Dodds & Holmes, 2020; Lucrezi & van Der Walt, 2016) and in other journals (Al-Najar, 2017; Bin Taheen et al., 2021). Subsequently, four in-depth interviews with childless tourists under 30 years of age were conducted, through which additional relevant criteria beyond those found in the literature were identified. A total of 11 criteria were finally formulated for the multi-criteria evaluation by the research team/authors of this chapter: 1. Destination safety—an assessment of the destination in terms of crime, incidence of violent crime, political stability or likelihood of terrorist acts 2. Hygienic conditions—availability of medical care, incidence of infectious diseases 3. Quality of beaches—cleanliness of sea water and sand on beaches in the destination 4. Exploring tangible monuments—supply of cultural and historical attractions for tourism 5. Getting to know the local culture—the opportunity to learn about the social component of the destination, local people, traditions, cuisine, etc. 6. Destination awareness and crowdedness—evaluation of the destination in terms of the level of tourist exposure 7. Facilities and services in the destination—quality of tourism facilities and services (especially accommodation, ancillary services) 8. Availability and credibility of destination information—ability to find reliable information by potential tourists or travel agencies 9. Quality of scenery—overall appearance and aesthetics of the destination, range of natural attractions 10. Staff in the destination—qualifications, information, professionalism, language equipment of the staff 11. Transport accessibility and conditions of entry into the country—air accessibility from the Czech Republic, visa requirements.

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2.2 Grading Scales for the Criteria For each of the 11 criterions, the description in words which specific condition is assessed by the respective score in points was created. The information for constructing the scoring scales was drawn (i) from the literature (CMIR, 2020, n.d.; World Economic Forum, 2019, 2022), (ii) in-depth interviews, which were very important source for creating the grading scales (second series of the interviews with the same four respondents as were approached for creating the list of criteria was managed on-line), and (iii) it was finalized in the series of research team discussions. For the grading scales see Table 1.

3 Weights of Criteria The weights of the criteria were determined according to the results of completed questionnaires from a total of 11 respondents. The group of respondents consisted of young people without children who had already visited an exotic destination in the past or were thinking about it. The questionnaire was in the form of an Excel spreadsheet and was distributed to the e-mail addresses of the selected respondents. They were asked to rate the individual criteria according to the instructions in the table using both the pairwise comparison method (Fuller’s triangle) and the Saaty matrix. The completed Excel questionnaires were sent back to the research team by the respondents and then the data from the questionnaires were evaluated. In Table 2, it can be seen how the specific weights came out for each criterion and method. The most important criteria for both methods were Exploring tangible monuments, getting to know the local culture and Quality of scenery. On the opposite spectrum of importance, the criteria Destination awareness and crowdedness and Staff in the destination also came out equally. A greater difference in ranking between the direct scoring method and the other two methods can then be observed for the criteria Transport accessibility and conditions of entry into the country and Availability and credibility of destination information. Otherwise, the results did not differ much. The order of importance of the criteria for the Fuller and Saaty methods came out very similar.

4 Results Four selected destinations were investigated. As already mentioned, the first two represent typical traditional destinations—Ko Chang Island in Thailand and the Maldives. Two other represent new/emerging destinations Senegal coast and Socotra Island, where Socotra is of special interest in this research.

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Table 1 Criteria grading scales in the analysis Quality in points

State description

1. Destination safety 4

The destination is perceived as safe, politically stable. There is a low crime rate and incidence of violent crime. The destination has not been affected by any major incident or act of terrorism in the past

3

The destination can be assessed as safe. In the past, it has rarely been affected by a major incident or act of terrorism

2

The destination is perceived as less safe, with higher crime rates and the likelihood of terrorist acts

1

The destination is not perceived as safe. It is a politically unstable locality with a high crime rate or a high probability of terrorist acts

2. Hygienic conditions 4

Quality medical care is very well available in the destination. The likelihood of infectious diseases is very low

3

The availability and quality of medical care is sufficient. The likelihood of infectious diseases is low

2

The quality and availability of medical care is rather low. The likelihood of infectious diseases is increased

1

Medical care is not well available in the destination. The likelihood of infectious diseases is high

3. Quality of beaches 4

The sea water is clean, clear, the beach surface is also clean (sand). The beach is not affected in any way by the discharge of waste in the vicinity. The beach has good beach services (security measures, presence of trash cans, toilets), the beach is regularly maintained

3

The cleanliness of the beach surface and water are at a level suitable for recreation and are not affected by litter. The beach services are of a good standard and the beach is regularly maintained

2

The sea is slightly polluted, the beach is only irregularly maintained. Beach services are available, but insufficient in some places

1

The sea is visibly polluted, the surface of the beach is littered with garbage. There is a complete lack of beach services on the beach. Conditions are not safe or suitable for recreation

4. Exploring tangible monuments 4

A significant number of tangible monuments as tourist attractions can be found in the destination

3

The offer of listed attractions for tourism is satisfactory and sufficient for a multi-day stay

2

Some tourist attractions can be found in the destination, but their number is not very significant. There is less interest in staying here for a longer period of time for this reason (continued)

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Table 1 (continued) Quality in points

State description

1

The supply of listed tourism attractions is low, the destination does not have much to offer the visitor in this respect

5. Getting to know the local culture 4

The local culture is specific and interesting, it is easy to get in touch with it. Local traditions and culture are presented in an authentic way

3

The local communities and residents offer good opportunities for visitors to experience the local culture

2

Local culture can be found in the destination, but some of its components are presented in an inauthentic way

1

In the destination it is almost impossible to get to know the local culture authentically or to meet the local community and local people. It is a destination with too much tourism, the local culture is presented in a commercial, inauthentic way

6. Destination awareness and crowdedness 4

The destination can be assessed as a tourist destination with low tourist exposure. It offers interesting tourist attractions that have only recently become known to potential visitors

3

The destination can be assessed as a slightly exposed tourist destination. It offers interesting tourist attractions that are already in the awareness of potential visitors

2

The destination can be assessed as well-known and frequently visited. The number of tourists is kept at a level creating a slightly disturbing element during recreation

1

The destination is very well known and struggles with over-tourism. Local tourism is not developing in a sustainable way. Attractive tourist places are highly exposed, the masses of tourists create a strong disturbance element

7. Facilities and services in the destination 4

The destination has quality accommodation options combined with high-level services. The accommodation is highly rated in reviews. It is characterised by a high quality of services. The destination offers a large number of additional services (sightseeing trips, relaxation, sports and other leisure activities)

3

The destination has quality accommodation services. The accommodation is relatively highly rated, and the quality of services is well rated. Additional services are offered only in limited quantity and quality

2

The destination does not have quality accommodation services. Reviews are rather negative. Additional services are of limited or insufficient quality

1

The destination does not have quality accommodation services. Reviews are negative. Additional services are not offered

8. Availability and credibility of destination information 4

There is plenty of reliable information about the destination and personal experiences of visitors

3

Credible information about the destination can be found, but less so the personal experiences of visitors (continued)

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Table 1 (continued) Quality in points

State description

2

There are few credible sources about the site and finding them is not easy

1

There is not enough reliable information about the site

9. Quality of scenery 4

The destination fits naturally into the surrounding environment, which is not disturbed by any undesirable elements (inaesthetic buildings, tasteless equipment). It offers plenty of natural attractions

3

The destination fits naturally into the surrounding environment, which offers natural attractions. Occasionally, disturbing elements can be seen, but they do not fundamentally interfere with the overall look and feel of the destination

2

The destination is disparate, aesthetically it does not fit into the surrounding environment. There are disturbing elements that slightly spoil the overall impression of the destination. Not enough natural attractions can be found

1

The place is absolutely out of tune with its surroundings. Often there are disparate elements that significantly disrupt the overall appearance, making the destination look unattractive and inaesthetic. Natural attractions are devalued

10. Staff in the destination 4

The staff at the destination are highly qualified, regularly trained and educated for their work. They are informed and willing to help. Typical is a professional approach and high language skills—fluent in two or more languages, communication in English is not a problem

3

The staff at the destination are qualified and trained. They are usually well informed and willing to help. They speak English, and exceptionally another world language

2

The staff are not qualified enough for their job. Training is irregular. Staff are not sufficiently informed. They have difficulty speaking English or any other world language

1

Staff are not qualified or trained for the job. The approach of the staff is completely unprofessional. They do not speak English or any other world language

11. Transport accessibility and conditions of entry into the country 4

The destination is easily accessible by air. There are direct flights from the Czech Republic, or at least one connection without long waiting time for the next connection. Visa-free entry to the country is possible for Czechs, or it is easy to obtain a visa at the airport

3

The destination is accessible by air, but there are no direct flights. For travellers from the Czech Republic, it is usually accessible with one or two transfers. Visas are not difficult to obtain

2

The destination is difficult to reach. There are no direct flights. Transfers require long waiting times. Obtaining a visa is time- and money-consuming

1

The destination is difficult to reach. There are no direct flights, you have to change planes at least twice, and you often have to spend the night on the road. Obtaining a visa is time- and money-consuming

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Table 2 Weights of the criteria Criterion No.

Criterion name/weight

Fuller triangle

Saaty matrix

1

Destination safety

0.093

0.089

2

Hygienic conditions

0.082

0.067

3

Quality of beaches

0.083

0.077

4

Exploring tangible monuments

0.125

0.139

5

Getting to know the local culture

0.117

0.132

6

Destination awareness and crowdedness

0.064

0.061

7

Facilities and services in the destination

0.103

0.104

8

Availability and credibility of destination information

0.088

0.08

9

Quality of scenery

0.109

0.128

10

Staff in the destination

0.054

0.048

11

Transport accessibility and conditions of entry into the country

0.082

0.075

1

1

Total

The destinations were evaluated based on data available in the literature, particularly the one available on-line on the Internet. For example, for the criteria of Destination safety, Hygienic conditions, Sightseeing and Local culture, the Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) offers relevant information, which offers a kind of benchmark across a range of evaluation criteria between countries. In the latest TTCI report for 2019, data could be traced for Thailand and Senegal, but not for the remaining selected countries in our assessment. Thus, other data had to be tracked down, for example, on the discussion forums of Tripadvisor or in the Travel Advice section of the official UK government website. Concrete data resources are shown when describing the individual criteria assessment.

4.1 Criterion 1: Destination Safety According to the TTCI Safety and Security criterion, Thailand ranks 111th and Senegal 86th compared to the other countries surveyed (World Economic Forum, n.d.). As for the Maldives and Socotra, data from TTCI were not available for comparison. However, Maldives is rated as safe by the Czech government (CMIR, 2020) and Socotra Island itself, despite the political situation in Yemen, is safe based on information from discussion forums among travelers (Malár, 2022; Sokotra.cz, 2021); thus, they scored 4 points. Considering the available information, after discussion in the research team the safety of Senegal and Thailand was rated as 3 and 2.5 points respectively.

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4.2 Criterion 2: Hygienic Conditions For this criterion, which looks at access to medical care and the incidence of infectious diseases, data can be obtained from the same sources as for the previous criterion. The TTCI places Thailand 88th in the ranking and Senegal 111th due to poorer access to medical care. It is strongly emphasized for travelers to Senegal to follow basic hygiene rules: frequent hand washing, drinking bottled or boiled water, and thorough cooking of all food. It is strongly recommended to avoid food of questionable safety (CMIR, n.d.). The same hygiene rules are stressed to follow in Thailand as well (Avenier, n.d.). According to GOV.UK, the situation in the island nation of Socotra is very similar to that of Yemen, which is ranked 107th in the Health and Hygiene criterion by TTCI (World Economic Forum, n.d.; GOV.UK, n.d.). After the discussion within the team, reflecting hygienic conditions Thailand was given a final score of 3, with the remaining destinations scoring 2 for comparable levels of sanitation.

4.3 Criterion 3: Quality of Beaches Due to the unavailability of other data that would allow a good comparison of the beaches of the selected destinations, the attractiveness of the beach/seascape was assessed based on photographs and analysis of traveler’s discussion forums (Silk Road; n.d.; Student Agency, 2022b; TripAdvisor, 2022a, 2022b). After the team discussion, Thailand was rated the highest with 4 points, followed by the Maldives and Socotra with 3.5 points, Senegal was rated with 3 points.

4.4 Criterion 4: Exploring Tangible Monuments In this regard, the relevant indicator Number of World Heritage cultural sites can be used, where the TTCI places Thailand 62nd and Senegal 49th (World Economic Forum, n.d.). There are hardly any cultural and historical sites in Socotra (natural attractions are certainly the main asset of the destination), but some can be found in the Maldives (TripAdvisor, 2022a). Thus, Senegal was the best rated with 3 points, followed by Thailand with 2.5 points, Maldives with 2 points and Socotra with only 1 point since it has very few tangible monuments (CK Hamidi, 2022).

4.5 Criterion 5: Getting to Know the Local Culture Regarding the aspect of the social component of the destination and the opportunities to learn about local culture and traditions, the TTCI again provided data for one of the

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criteria monitored, this time Oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage. Here, Thailand ranked 83rd, and Senegal ranked even better 68th. Senegal was scored 4 points for its high cultural diversity due to the coexistence of several specific ethnic minorities. Maldives and Socotra scored 3 points, as these countries offer many opportunities for tourists to experience the local island culture. Thailand was the lowest-scoring country with 2.5 points due to its relatively low authenticity and considerable trust frustration of local culture (Silk Road, 2022).

4.6 Criterion 6: Destination Awareness and Crowdedness For the criterion Destination awareness and crowdedness, it was not possible to find relevant data concerning, for example, the number of visitors or the level of tourist exposure of the destinations. The evaluation was therefore again based on a discussion within the research team and after the analysis of traveler’s discussion forums (Silk Road, n.d.; Student Agency, 2022d; TripAdvisor, 2022a). The best, i.e., 4 points, were awarded to our selected new/less known/newly discovered destinations of Senegal and Socotra. The Maldives scored 3 points and Thailand only 1 point, as it has clearly been struggling with over tourism in recent years (Milano et al., 2018).

4.7 Criterion 7: Facilities and Services in the Destination There is an abundance of highly rated accommodation in Thailand. At the same time, travelers here encounter unpleasant experiences related to the quality of services and accommodation. However, the destination offers many additional services such as sightseeing tours, relaxation, sports, and leisure activities. Therefore, Thailand was rated three points. In the Maldives, accommodation and services are generally of a high standard. Reviews on travel and information portals are, with a few exceptions, positive. Additional services are of a high standard and the destination offers a wide range of leisure activities. For that reason, Maldives was given four points. There is a different type of accommodation in Socotra which is in keeping with the conditions and mode of travel. However, the ratings for a different type of accommodation to that found in traditional destinations are high. Additional services are offered in limited quantity and quality (Sokotra.cz, n.d.). For that reason, the destination scored three points. Few negative reviews on travel portals can be observed for the accommodation and services in the destination of Senegal. Leisure activities are plentiful (e.g., the water sports offer is very wide), but the quality is questioned in some reviews. The destination was rated two points in this respect.

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4.8 Criterion 8: Availability and Credibility of Destination Information There are ample sources of information about Thailand as a traditional destination. It has a generally good reputation and personal experiences of visitors can be traced from several different sources. For that reason, it was assigned 4 points (fully satisfactory status). The Maldives has a generally good reputation. There are higher travel costs associated with travelling to the destination, but satisfaction with the holiday is high. Visitors’ personal experiences can be traced on several sources (Cerhová, 2017; Mohelníková, 2022). They were allocated 4 points. It may be more difficult for Czech residents to find reliable information about Socotra in Czech. Reliable sources are generally scarce and finding personal experiences and reviews of the destination is not as easy compared to traditional destinations. Therefore, Socotra was given a score of 1 on the factor of availability and credibility of destination information. Trusted sources about Senegal can be found on various travel portals (Silk Road, Travelling the world). However, the information is often brief and incomplete. Finding traveler reviews and ratings is not as easy compared to traditional destinations (Hrabalová, 2020). For that reason, Senegal received 2 points.

4.9 Criterion 9: Quality of Scenery Thailand is famous for its beautiful long beaches and islands and islets scattered across the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea. There are places where there are fewer people and less bustle, these feel more natural, the hotel walls are not as massive and noticeable (Silk Road, 2022). On the other hand, in tourist-exposed places—such as Ko Chang in particular—the greenery and natural scenery has been partly replaced by a backdrop of “concrete monster hotel complexes” (Silk Road, n.d.). Therefore, the destination was rated 2 points. The islands of the Maldives are known for their photogenic character thanks to their white beaches, and hotel bungalows that blend in with the local conditions and complete the atmosphere of the destination (Silk Road, n.d). The quality of scenery in the destination was rated 4 points. Socotra has beautiful beaches with mountain tops rising on one side and changing into dunes up to 100 m high (CK Hamidi, 2022). The scenery is not disturbed by any unsightly buildings, hotel complexes or inaesthetic features. Therefore, the scenery was assessed as fully satisfactory. After the discussion within the research team, it was given 4 points. The Senegalese territory combines the desert landscape of the Sahara in the north, a salt-lake with pink water, and rainforest in the south. Senegalese culture is very engaging with its markets, textiles, and cheeses as well as its architecture. On some beaches, cozy guesthouses, hotels, and restaurants are built. In the surrounding area, it is possible to go down a rope swing, walk on suspension bridges, ride on jet skis and flyboards, or ride a canoe (Hrabalová, 2020). Therefore, Senegal was scored 3 points.

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4.10 Criterion 10: Staff in the Destination According to various travel portals and vacation reviews, the staff in Thailand are, with few exceptions, helpful and friendly. A drawback can often be the lack of English, which makes communication with locals difficult. Exceptionally, there are some unpleasant experiences with local staff (Silk Road, 2022). In this respect, the criterion of the staff at the destination was rated three points. The Maldives is generally known for the ‘friendly staff’. The staff have no problem with English and are often proficient in another language (RECENZE.CZ, 2018). After analyzing travelers’ discussions online, destination was awarded 4 points. According to the online portal (Sokorta, n.d.) it is difficult to speak English or any other language in Socotra. This tends to be the biggest obstacle when communicating with locals. The intermediary is often a guide, without whom communication is very difficult. However, the locals are friendly and helpful to tourists with rare exceptions. Therefore, this criterion was scored 2 points. In Senegal, travelers encounter friendly staff. Due to the high illiteracy rate in the country, English is hardly spoken, with French being the more common international language. Unpleasant experiences with local staff are also reported on travel portals (Hrabalová, 2020). This criterion was scored 2 points.

4.11 Criterion 11: Transport Accessibility and Conditions of Entry into the Country Thailand can be easily reached from the Czech Republic mostly with one transfer in the Middle East. Most flights fly regularly from Prague to the capital (Student Agency, 2022a). Czech citizens do not need a visa to enter the country (Student Agency, 2022d). Thailand was rated 4 points in terms of transport accessibility and entry into the country. The Maldives can usually be reached from Prague with two transfers, one in Europe and one in the Middle East (Student Agency, 2022b). There is no need for Czechs to obtain a visa before entering the country. A valid visa is only granted at the airport of the destination, with no fees, for a period of 30 days (Invia, n.d.). Therefore, the islands were scored with 3 points. Socotra can only be reached from Abu Dhabi, or Cairo with a stopover in Aden. A visa is not available on arrival, it must be arranged at least three weeks before departure (Socotra.com, n.d.). The formality for entry permits and visas are arranged by the travel ecotourism organization from Socotra and can only be obtained with their help. An important piece of information is that the passport must not contain an Israeli visa or an entry or exit stamp from Israel (Sokotra.cz, n.d.). Because of these conditions, the island is scored one point. There are no direct flights to Senegal from the Czech Republic. It can usually be reached with one or two stopovers in Europe and the Middle East

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(Student Agency, 2022c). EU citizens do not need a visa before entering the country for short stays of up to 90 days. For this reason, Senegal received 3 points in this respect.

5 Discussion The multi-criteria evaluation used in this paper found that the new destinations scored lower than the traditional exotic destinations when all selected factors were considered. This is true both for the results obtained without the inclusion of weights (although there is only a 1.5-point difference between Senegal and Thailand) and especially for the evaluation with the inclusion of weights in the adjacency calculations (see Table 3). A closer look at the scores shows that Socotra has significant potential for tourism development, if it wants any. It is a typical dilemma of a new destination whether to maintain its authenticity, a peaceful environment for its own inhabitants to live in, or whether to invest in tourism development, especially for economic reasons. As already mentioned, the results are valid for the cohort of tourists of young people under 30 years of age without children. In future research, it would be interesting to apply the method to other relevant cohorts (e.g., the 55+ category or families with children) to obtain broader conclusions about the level of tourism in the countries concerned and the potential for its development. The results of the analysis therefore show that the benefits of travelling to new destinations are not significantly different Table 3 Analysis results without weights Factor

Thailand Maldives Senegal Socotra

Destination safety

2.5

4

3

4

Hygienic conditions

3

2

2

2

Quality of the beach

4

3.5

3

3.5

Exploring tangible monuments

2.5

2

3

1

Getting to know the local culture

2.5

3

4

3

Destination awareness and crowdedness

1

3

4

4

Facilities and services in the destination

3

4

2

3

Availability and credibility of destination information

4

4

2

1

Quality of scenery

3

4

3

4

Staff in the destination

3

4

2

2

Transport accessibility and conditions of entry into the 4 country

3

3

1

Average points (not weighted)

3.0

3.3

2.8

2.6

Weighted results (Fuller triangle)

2.96

3.28

2.86

2.58

Weighted results (Saaty matrix)

2.93

3.28

2.89

2.61

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from the benefits of travelling to traditional destinations for the reference group of people under 30 without children. This finding may be justified by the fact that the cohort of people in the study prefers to explore tangible sights, experience local culture and the quality of scenery when choosing a destination. These factors can be satisfied equally in both new and traditional destinations. Another justification is that the criterion of familiarity (crowdedness) did not come out as very significant. Thus, the given group of people do not mind tourist exposure to the extent that might be assumed. Thus, destinations that offer sufficient opportunities to explore cultural and natural sites, to learn about local culture and society, and that meet the requirements for the overall appearance and aesthetics of the place, regardless of whether they are new and undiscovered by tourists, are the most highly rated. As for the further development of tourism on Socotra, there are more problems to be seen. While the island is well placed to develop traditional coastal tourism, it is important to see the need to protect its undeniably important natural and cultural assets and to balance economic growth on the island with the protection of its valuable natural assets. This natural resource may be also threatened by forms of rapid development on the island other than tourism (Van Damme & Lisa Banfield, 2011). Saraf (2021) states the need to protect existing trees from overuse as firewood or construction timber. He also warns against fragmentation and woodland degradation from overgrazing by feral and domesticated goats and other cattle. It will be necessary to strengthen special legislation and regulations governing the work of investing in tourist places and not only in water and beach sports as suggested by Bin Taheen et al. (2021). International support for conservation in Socotra may also be important (Scholte et al., 2011). From the social point of view, it also needs to address tourism development at Socotra sensitively as the Islamic values, culture and tribal conventions contrast with Western tourists’ practices. Regarding the future development of tourism on the Socotra Island, most authors agree on the need to promote only appropriate sustainable forms of tourism, including ecotourism (Al-Najar, 2017; Attorre et al., 2011; Fasola et al., 2020; Mohd Nor et al., 2014). The authors of this chapter come to the same conclusion. In this sense, Socotra Island stands at a crossroads.

6 Conclusions The weighted sum approach has been applied in the analysis to compare conditions for winter exotic recreation at four destinations. Two of them are traditional ones (Ko Chang Island in Thailand and Maldives) and two emerging destinations (Senegal coast and Socotra Island). The comparison has shown that Socotra Island has very good potential for further development of tourism of this kind. Socotra Island has preserved important natural and cultural heritage. It stands at a crossroad: to support development of a mass tourism with negative impacts on the heritage, or to promote truly sustainable forms of tourism.

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Conclusion: What We Found and What Is the Way Forward? Nataša Slak Valek

Socotra Archipelago is considered not only one of the most remote places in the world but also one of the most biodiverse and naturally rich (Brown & Mies, 2012; Sindaco et al., 2012) destinations. In effect, it is difficult to write “destination” or “a destination that one can visit”, as it is not a place easy to reach. Socotra only began to open to the outside world in 1990 (Scholte et al., 2011) and was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2008. Exact data of tourists visiting the place are not available, but some (online) sources estimate 3000 tourists visit Socotra Island per year (Slak Valek, 2023). This present book explores the island from the social sciences point of view, focusing on people, culture, and heritage, but also Socotra’s linguistic, communication, and anthropology and tourism. With this book we believe we started to fill the gap that exists between publications about Socotra natural sciences and Socotra social science. While a lot has been published in natural science about Socotra’s endemic species, biodiversity and nature in general, social scientific research of the island is very limited. We therefore want to address this gap in this book and encourage more social science research about this unique place on earth. In this conclusion chapter I want to summarize what has been learnt from each chapter, and scan what could be possible future research. The first chapter investigates Socotri women’s lives by intersectional feminist autoethnographic snapshots (IFAS) developed by the authors who visited Socotra for this special research reason. As authors explain, IFAS method enables the authors to articulate the complexity of people lives by photographs being explored and helps to understand various perspectives. Authors research how can IFAS study offer an insight into Socotri women’s lives, while being aware of limitations, such being an outside observer exists. It is important to highlight here how difficult is to collect data of very closed and traditional societies as Socotra is, and especially data of Muslim Socotri women as their culture and tribal values contradict Western practices N. Slak Valek (B) Zayed University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 N. Slak Valek and A. A. Zedan (eds.), A Social View of Socotra Island, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4358-6_10

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(Kasim & Al Gahuri, 2015). People in conservative societies often do not express their real opinions, especially to foreigners, thus we found the research method used by the authors of our first chapter as a prominent idea, to better understand Socotra women’s lives. To my knowledge, this is not just one of the very rare studies about Socotri people but is the first study on trying to understand Socotri women and their lives. One interesting finding of this research is that Socotri women students demonstrated situated social media literacy, although the WIFI connection in the island is limited. Women in Socotra remain an untapped pool of talent on the island who could be contributing to the sustainable development and empowerment of females in their context, but as for now foreign investors and Socotri men are benefit from businesses on the island. Authors suggest that Socotri women require funding and training in building social media businesses so that they might also prosper. More research is needed to understand women in Socotra and the ways they could get more involved in education and opportunities to earn, and this study proves that studying Socotri women it is possible, although often neglected. The second chapter presents traditional practices used by local and indigenous peoples for ideas that may offer some hope with the environmental challenges the whole world faces today. The need for environmental solutions is especially critical in small island who are mostly dependent on the sea level, and in developing nations where people are most vulnerable as they do not have modern resources to confront natural disasters. Authors of this chapter try to shed the light on traditional Socotran practices that could inform strategies for preserving the special ecology of this island. The island faces pressure from development, which impacts the use of traditional practices in Socotra. We have seen these phenomena in other places around the world (Martínez-Ballesté et al., 2006), but seems we learnt very little. Although there have been attempts in linking cultural and ecological sustainability (Throsby, 2008), Socotra is undergoing this challenge now. The authors of this article spent two weeks in Socotra to learn local and indigenous practices traditionally used to protect the unique biodiversity on the island of Socotra. They toured the island and spent time with locals living on the island. As the researchers are women it was easier for them to communicate and spend some time with Socotri women as well, which is not a usual practice for traditional Muslim women. This is already one of the examples how traditional practices on the island are changing. However, their results show that many traditional practices which are not present in the developed world anymore are still practiced in Socotra. For example, using traditional fishing boats and fishing nets to provide food to their families. Nevertheless, the fishing practice has changed as fishermen now use nets with tight weave and they catch all size fish. In the past, the nets had much wider holes so that small fish could escape. The practice is still the same, but the impact on the environment has significantly changed. Other examples like this are provided by the authors of this article, which makes it a very impactful article and interesting to read. As for the future research, we need to know more how to balance between development, environment, and traditional cultures. Although a lot has been written about sustainability (sustain

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cultures, provide economic opportunities, and protect the environment—all of it at the same time and for future generations), the right formula to achieve that is still to be discovered. Since Socotra is one of few places in the world that still resists the development, is perhaps the place representing an opportunity for us to learn. The third chapter looks into the plates of visitors of Socotra. The author of this chapter has never travelled to Socotra, which allows her to develop and idea about Socotra by looking only at pictures (of food) published by travelers to Socotra on social media. This idea is another distinctive research approach as describe by the author “digitizing different life experiences and gaining knowledge about the world through new media has made it possible for all of us to easily visit parts of the world that we have never set foot in, but which we can get to know in detail with just a few clicks”. I find her research idea very innovative and triggered a wish to know more about how we can read a destination through food. She also explains why exactly Socotra is a good case study for digitization of experiences, and the answer is because the island is only visited by a small number of daring, adventure hungry people. A study developed by Li et al. (2020) analyzed the impact of short food videos on the destination image and found that the contents about the flavor characteristics of food and the local social environment are more likely to affect the affective image of the destination. Since not much data is available about Socotra, pictures on social media are creating Socotra tourism image. People before traveling to a new destination progressively search for the visual content before travelling, to get an idea of the place, and it seems food plays a significant role in case of Socotra. Although a lot has been written about photo sharing and tourism image (Li et al., 2023) future research is needed to determine how can Socotra and its people benefit from that. Chapter 4 continues the debate of fishing practices, and focuses on communitybased tourism, which may offer opportunities for people in Socotra to make income. Fishing in Socotra has traditionally been an activity with limited profitability, and Socotri practiced it mainly to feed their family as fish represented their main source of food. But the practices have been changing as indigenous inhabitants of Socotra has now found that fishing as a practice and fish as a product can represent a source of income. This chapter investigates fishing from two points of view: first, they analyze the traditional fishing techniques and cultures, and second, they look into possibilities how to develop a sustainable fishing tourism that provides locals with an income. A combination of both may represent an idea of developing and promoting community-based fishing tourism that could be implemented on the island. In spite of the fact that a lot has been researched about community-based tourism (Tham & Chin, 2022), this has not been a practice in Socotra and it seems that indigenous residents of Socotra are not aware of this option. Locals in Socotra live close to the nature and are expected to safeguard their natural environment, culture and traditions for the benefit of their communities to which they give a priority, before looking into business opportunities. However, tourists would probably appreciate an authentic destination that offer unique experiences. The authors spent two weeks in Socotra explore those options by interviewing tourism stakeholders in the island. One of the problems traditional communities faces with tourism is allowing foreigners to get close to locals, especially women, and to obey the rules as defined by the locals.

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Socotra is maybe a destination where those issues apply the most. Participants in this chapter research agree that “Tourists are always welcome as long as they follow community rules”. This is perhaps something that needs more research in communitybased tourism, and how to make locals feel more comfortable to offer their traditional practices to foreigners. In Socotra, to say that tourism will bring more income, will not be enough to convince locals to allow foreigners to enter their homes. Something more will need to happen, and this “something more” needs further research. Next chapter gives a new perspective on Socotra from an author who spends half of his working time in Socotra Island and half in mainland Yemen. This gives first-hand information to the reader. As seen in other chapters of this book authors’ impressions were collected in two weeks spent in Socotra Island or via web content, but this chapter gives an overview of a person staying in Yemen. The author has experiences to teach English as a second language in Yemen and Socotra, and language is one of the main components when trying to understand local cultures and traditions. It has been observed that a language can be an obstacle when trying to collect data in Socotra as Socotri people use their own language, which was not an issue for the research of this chapter. The author of Chap. 5 explores the factors which participate in preserving the intangible traditions of the Socotris. He performed interviews with twenty Socotra native participants who are interested in Socotri language, traditions, and heritage. I find interesting one of his findings that say: “There are many factors that help preserve the Socotri traditions from loss, including of awareness of the Socotris on their traditions, the use of Socotri language among Socotris, the limited income of Socotri people, which does not support luxurious life, …”. I want to focus to the latest, namely luxurious life. This statement triggers future research which may help to understand if limited resources may help us preserve cultures (and nature?) better. An enormous number of research can be found on preserving local cultures (Zandieh & Seifpour, 2020) and the majority focuses on understanding how a cultural heritage and local practices can be used as a tourism product that represent a source of income (Su et al., 2019), but little is known about limited resources which do not allow luxurious life and relation with preserving culture and heritage. Another finding of this chapter is that people of the city accept the intrusive tradition while rural people from smaller villages do not accept foreigners and international practices. Future study is recommended to understand these differences, but also to understand how Socotri people feel about the dead traditions, which have been discovered in Chap. 5. In Chap. 6 we learn about Socotra’s semiotic and linguistic landscape in terms of space and social context. Authors of this chapter did not travel to Socotra themselves, but they collected forty images of signage with the help of other researchers who travelled to Socotra. Although the authors claim the size signage collected (40) is small compared to other linguistic landscaping studies, which I believe, but on the other size I was surprised they could find 40 signs in an island small as Socotra, with not many roads or buildings with adverts. This study is unique as no previous research have tried to define linguistic identities of Socotra. Socotri language traditionally had no written form and is classified as highly endangered, thus all written evidence about Socotra language help to protect it and gives an opportunity to future

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generations to understand their roots. Socotri language was discovered in 1834 and it was later restricted until the independence of South Yemen in November 1967 (Elie, 2012). As the chapter finds, beside Socotri language, Arabic and English have increasingly been spoken on the island, especially after opening an international airport on Socotra Island and opening doors to foreigners. Image analyzed by the authors of this chapters were classified in six categories, namely language(s), semiotics, sign maker, function, space, and place. The article is very interesting to read together with looking at the pictures provided. One of the findings that I find interesting is the symbolic representation of culture presented through beautifully painted doors. When I travelled to Socotra, I wondered what people want to communicate with painting their doors beautifully, or perhaps even compete with neighbors “who have the most beautiful door”. The chapter finds many factors which influence the construction of linguistic identities on the island. Beside Arabization being strong in the island, and the symbolic power of English as a global language, Elie (2012) claims there is an awareness of the marginalization of Socotri which induces feelings of guilt, shame, loss, and nostalgia. The authors of this chapter call for more and extensive research on Socotra language and semiotics, as the key to survival of endangered languages is the need for a written system, support, and recognition for this written system. In Chap. 7 the author focuses on a vision and reflections about Socotra within a geographical-historical disciplines. She uses historical cartography and the literature of travel to understand the island of Socotra of today. By reading this chapter we can better understand the position Socotra finds itself in today, geographically, culturally, from the religion point of view, and more. We also understand how important is to have the travel writings from the far history as they represent vital information and evidence of this little island at the very edge of the known world. From one of the commentaries the author analyses we learn that Diogo Fernandes Pereira, a participant in the Quinta Armada, landed on Socotra in 1503 and remained there through the storm season. From my trip to Socotra, I remember we went to a mountain and a cave with rock art, and the guide explained that rock art was made by sailors who were on a trade trip, but due to a bad weather they stopped in this island and lived in a cave in search of protection from the monsoons. van Rensburg and De Geest (2015) confirm that in their study by explaining that due to its geographical location Socotra “has attracted Indian Ocean seafarers and merchants to its shores from at least the first century Unequivocal evidence for Socotra’s importance in this trade was found within Hoq cave on the north coast where inscriptions show that sea-traders from India, South Arabia, Ethiopia, Egypt, and Palmyra were visiting Socotra from the first century to the sixth century AD” (p. 417). Jung (1996) explains that rock art in Socotra shows many different shapes, like camel, ship, oxen, and snakes, but also postures of prayers, crosses, or a man hunting a camel. He also says, “several scholars sustain that the geometric pattern resembling characters may have affinities with ancient South Arabian letters” (p. 85). All this evidence is of immense importance in research of Socotra, and its social science. As the author of Chap. 6 concludes,

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although we have been starting to understand more about Socotra recently, the island still retains the fascination of the “island on the edge of the ecumene”. The world has changed, but Socotra and its inhabitants still maintain a liminal position. This by itself calls for more research. Another fascinating topic in Socotra is the importance of palm trees for the indigenous people. At first, the palm tree represented the source of food and way of survival, but nowadays a palm tree means so much more for Socotri people. It is engraved in their lifestyles, cultures, and habits. In this chapter we learn habits around palm trees as the result of traditions and cultures, but also the importance of the language in regard to palm trees. Many inhabitants in Socotra now realize that preservation is as key to their future, so they understand the need of keeping the traditions alive. At the end, nobody knows what the future keeps for this island. Authors also present problems Socotri face in cultivation, but offer some recommendation with cost-effective methods. In the last chapter the reader, if or not previously travelled to Socotra, can understand more about Socotra as a tourism destination. The authors compare Socotra with an island in Thailand, Maldives as a popular small-islands destination, and the cost of Senegal. Multicriteria analysis was performed, using eleven different criteria, and their results show significant potential for tourism development in Socotra. One of the things that caught my eye is the authors concluding statement by writing “…, if it wants any”. These leads to future research to try to understand the opinion of Socotra residents towards tourism and development. A doctoral thesis by AlGahuri (2014) found negative relation between Islamic values of Socotra residents and tourism development on the island, while a study by Scholte et al. (2011) show that communities agree towards developing ecotourism, but only with a plan that allows preserving the environment. No recent research can be found on tourism in Socotra, which calls for that need. Sustainable and ecotourism development requires the engagement of local residents due to the need to balance between the protection of the environment and the need for development. Although Socotri might not have liked the idea of tourism development, the latest COVID-19 pandemic may have changed their opinions. Stakeholders, including tourists and local communities, are now significantly more aware of the importance of sustainable development in tourism than they were before the pandemic. Residents’ opinion towards developing tourism is probably one of the most studied areas within tourism literature (Obradovi´c & Stojanovi´c, 2022), but as observed by Kasim and Al Gahuri (2015) when studying conservative populations like Socotra, several factors need to be considered while approaching respondents. Considering constraints, tribal cultures, beliefs, and traditions of Socotri, future research might be beneficial for all stakeholders involved in (tourism) development on Socotra Island. I want to believe that one step has been done by publishing this book, which is one of rare, if not unique collection of academic social science research about Socotra.

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To conclude, I want to express my gratitude to all authors who contributed to this book, which would not have been possible without their collaboration. The authors spend their time to either research about Socotra online or analyzing the literature available, but even more by using their (free) time to travel to Socotra to conduct research. I am thankful to Socotri people who helped our authors in Socotra and made them feel welcomed and comfortable. This book would not have been possible without them either, and without Socotri people this book has no meaning. My last thank you message goes to the University of Socotra Archipelago who helped in organizing this project and supported the authors. I believe and hope this collection of research about Socotra, their people, cultures, and attitudes will help many who need and want to understand people of Socotra.

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